Grover Middle School took first place at the New Jersey Regional Competition of the National Middle School Science Bowl held at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in Plainsboro on March 7. Team members include Eli Wang, Rishabh Singh, Sophia Liu, Ikshita Singh, Sansriti Tripathi, and Alexander Clifton. The teacher and coach is Rae McKenna.##M:[more]##
They were among 14 teams from area schools that competed in the bowl that included two portions — a model hydrogen fuel-cell car competition and an academic, fast-paced question-and-answer contest in which students answered questions about earth, physical, life, general sciences, and math. Community Middle School took second place in the academic portion.
The Grover team will receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., to participate in the National Middle School Science Bowl, from April 30 to May 5.
Grover School also took first place in Junior Division Scenario Writing. Angela Mao’s scenario entitled “Hope” placed first in the State Scenario Writing Contest. The sixth grade student at Grover will travel with her advisor, Joan Ruddiman, to Michigan State University in Ann Arbor for the Future Problem Solving International Competition in May.
The seventh grade team was ranked first in the Middle Division Future Problem Solving team competition in the State Qualifying Problem against teams from Grades 7, 8, and 9 throughout New Jersey. The Grover Middle School Team is Jeffrey Kuan, Jyotsna Suresh, Krishna Trivedi, Anushka Gupta, Hanaan Yazdi, and Rohan Patlolla. They will compete at the NJ Future Problem Solvers State Bowl.
Brandon Ling, above, an eighth grade student at Grover, is a finalist in the Mercer County PTA Reflections Contest. Ling’s artistic collage was submitted for consideration to the Grover PTSA and advanced to the Mercer County Council of PTAs, which will now submit his work for judging at the state level.
The National PTA Reflections Program recognizes individual’s work in the arts, including literature, music, film, photography, visual arts, and dance.
Ling, who describes himself as “dedicated to the arts,” is an active participant in the National Talent Network Cognetics program that incorporates all the arts in skits that are created by applying a high level of creative problem solving and collaboration skills.