This story was submitted by Harker rising junior Cindy Liu.
On July 2, a team of eight Harker rising juniors placed first in the nation in the 9/10 division for the 2013 Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics and Science (TEAMS). The competition took place during the national Technology Student Association (TSA) conference held from June 28 to July 2 in Orlando, Fla. The team members included Andrew Jin, David Lin, Cindy Liu, Steven Wang, Rachel Wu, Stanley Xie, Leo Yu and Andrew Zhang.
TEAMS is an annual science, technology, engineering and mathematics competition challenging students to work collaboratively and apply their math and science knowledge and problem-solving skills in practical, creative ways to solve real world engineering challenges. The 2013 TEAMS theme was “Engineering a Secure Cyberspace.” The first part of the competition, held locally in March, included 80 multiple choice questions and eight short essays on the theme. The team ranked number one in California in the grade 9/10 division and were invited to participate in second part of the competition at the national level. The part II test consisted of three categories: a research essay on cybersecurity, a written problem-solving exam with complex math, physics and computer science scenarios and an extemporaneous debate on one of three topics: social media, work place privacy and cloud computing. All of the students benefited from the knowledge they had accumulated in Harker classes, such as their math courses, AP Physics, AP Computer Science and the debate program.
The TSA is a national organization that supports more than 60 STEM competitions for middle and high school students nationwide. TSA membership includes more than 190,000 students in 2,000 schools spanning 48 states. In addition to the TEAMS competition, students attended ceremonies recognizing TSA development and were able to meet with participants of other TSA projects. All of the participating teams qualified for the national round by placing in the first four places in their states.
By Daniel Hudkins Dan Hudkins is Harker’s K-12 director of instructional technology. This article originally appeared in the summer 2013 issue of Independent School Magazine and was also printed in the summer 2013 Harker Quarterly.
Every school plans a curriculum that attempts to meet two parallel objectives: to be consistent with its core values and to prepare its students to be competent and successful adults. This tension leads schools to teach a variety of required courses based on values and perceived needs. But over time, those values and needs change. There were lengthy parts of our educational history in which wood and metal shop or home economics had been considered core skills. In the early 20th century, what independent school would not have included Latin as a required curricular element? Yet how many independent schools require Latin today?
In addition to everything else we teach, at The Harker School (California) we are convinced that the habits of mind learned through an understanding of computational thinking are required if one is to be a knowledgeable adult in the 21st century. And we believe that these skills are best learned through an understanding of computer science.
Vinton Cerf, the father of the Internet, makes the essential argument for computer science classes today: “Embedded computers and their animating software are everywhere, and a well-educated person today has to appreciate and understand their roles in daily life, business, entertainment and scientific research. No curriculum is complete without it.”
Even President Obama has chimed in. Responding to a question about teaching computer science in high school recently, he stated that making that training available in high school “not only prepares young people who may choose not to go to a four-year college to be job-ready, but it also engages kids.”
Here at The Harker School, we have had a graduation requirement of at least one semester of computer science since the first high school graduating class in 2002. The statement in our Program of Studies makes the case for the requirement this way: “The growth of the computer and electronic industries has contributed to profound and fundamental changes in how we work, live, interact with others, and play. We are surrounded with computers, both hidden and obvious, in all aspects of our lives. The computer science department offers a well-rounded program in technology and computer science, with courses that will appeal to the lay user as well as the computer science-bound student.”
Among educators in general, there is widespread confusion about what computer science entails and where it belongs in the curriculum. Computer science is not about teaching students how to use a word processor, spreadsheet or some other computer-based productivity tool. It is not about helping students learn how to make a set of PowerPoint slides to support an oral presentation. It is not about helping students learn how to use digital probeware in a science lab, or how to make a video in a humanities class, or how to create an engaging poster in a graphic arts lab. And it is not just about computer programming. All of these skills can be worthy and valuable parts of a K-12 education, and certainly contribute to one’s technological fluency. However, we are aiming for the higher goal of helping students develop the habits of mind that Jeannette Wing, of Carnegie Mellon University, describes as “computational thinking.”
Wing describes computational thinking as being able to apply human solutions to real-world problems. It represents a human way of thinking, rather than a computer’s way of functioning. As she puts it, “Computational thinking is a way humans solve problems; it is not trying to get humans to think like computers. Computers are dull and boring; humans are clever and imaginative.”
Our computer science classes are informed by experts in the field. Jeannette Wing’s work on defining computational thinking has crystalized much of our course work at Harker and elsewhere. Matt Brenner, of CSTeachLearn and formerly of Phillips Exeter Academy (New Hampshire) and Sidwell Friends School (Washington, D.C.), made the case for computer science in independent schools some time ago. He argued that, just as a basic understanding of mechanization and automation were the transformative ideas that undergirded the industrial revolution, algorithmic thinking is driving the current transformation of our society. “If we don’t know what they [algorithms] are or how to think about, invent, and apply them,” Brenner writes, “then we cannot use them to improve our lives and our society, nor can we understand how others use or wish to use them to the advantage or disadvantage of ourselves and our society.”
In addition, Chris Bigenho, of the Greenhill School (Texas) and the University of North Texas, has gathered evidence of current practices in teaching computer science in many independent schools. Casting a broad net, he posted a request for responses on two active independent school listservs. From his response summary, it is clear that this is a very active topic in the independent school world. While some respondents were in the exploratory phase, it appears that most were actively developing a computer science program that spanned middle and high school. They shared a broad agreement that computer science is a discipline in its own right with its own habits of mind. However, the surveys revealed some impediments to delivering computer science instruction in an independent school. This is leading to active discussion of several concerns including logistical questions (Can programming be taught on an iPad?), pedagogical questions (How can we best introduce students to the “hard fun” of learning to code?), and questions of recognition for independent learning (Is course credit the only meaningful measure or should we follow the world of industry and the MOOCs and look at badging and other forms of recognition?).
Teaching Computational Thinking
The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) recently sponsored a working group to further outline the essence of computational thinking. In a summary report on the working group, Chris Stephenson and Valerie Barr write, “Computational Thinking (CT) is an approach to solving problems in a way that can be implemented with a computer. Students become not merely tool users but tool builders. They use a set of concepts, such as abstraction, recursion and iteration, to process and analyze data, and to create real and virtual artifacts. CT is a problem-solving methodology that can be automated, transferred and applied across subjects.”
While this may feel abstract, it encapsulates the logic that is leading schools to incorporate game design and robotics at a variety of levels. Incorporating a deeper understanding of computational thinking is not unlike what we do in a wide variety of other academic disciplines in which we lead students to take skills acquired in one course and apply them in another (i.e., applying the ability to create a graph to a population study in a geography class).
At Harker, we have done extensive work to embed information literacy across the curriculum. In 2013–14 we will offer a 2:1 iPad program in K-2, a 2:1 Chromebook program in grade 3, a 1:1 Chromebook program in grades 4-5, a 1:1 laptop program (student choice of Windows or Mac OS) in the middle school, and a 1:1 bring-your-own-laptop program in the upper school. We believe that using technological tools to learn across the curriculum with a variety of tools leads to a greater degree of technological fluency.
But none of these programmatic steps directly addresses computational thinking. That requires teaching computer science.
Our computer science classes focus on problem-solving with computers because we know it’s a valuable 21st-century skill in courses and experiences across the curriculum, both inside and outside the classroom. Computer science classes begin in the lower school in fourth grade, where we work with computer simulations and animation. In the middle school, through required courses and elective offerings, the concepts and applications become more sophisticated. Required courses cover game design theory, robotics and the development of mobile applications. Elective offerings include Web animation, introductory programming and an introduction to Java programming.
The high school program, in part because of our Silicon Valley location, is unusually deep. A semester-length course is required for graduation. Students can meet this requirement by either of two options. The Digital World course is designed for students with limited interest in computer science. It teaches computer modeling and digital representation, and spends substantial time exploring the implications of living in a digital world. For those students with a deeper interest, the sequence begins with computer programming, but includes AP Computer Science as well as a series of advanced topics in computer science that vary from year to year. Recent topics have included Computer Architecture, Digital Signal Processing, Expert Systems, Neural Networks, Numerical Methods, Programming Languages and Compiler Systems.
The Computer Science Department
Another area of confusion about computer science concerns the question of where it should be taught. Some schools fold computer science into the math or science departments. While this may be necessary in the short term, it is not a great long-term solution. For the long term, it is important to recognize that computer science has evolved into its own discipline with skills that are distinct from science or math – and therefore requires its own department.
While non-specialist teachers (like me) can introduce computer science concepts in the early years, they are less capable as the sophistication of the computational thinking objectives increases. For the higher end courses – even the middle school courses – it’s best to tap the skills of a specialist. In other words, for courses that rely on introductory tools like Alice, Stagecast or Robolab, non-specialists can teach quite effectively. However, as the sophistication of the tools and concepts increases – think AP Computer Science and above – it becomes necessary to have computer science courses taught by experienced computer science teachers. We want our English teachers to be able to lead students to a deeper understanding of the text than could be provided by an enthusiastic but unsophisticated reader. Shouldn’t we want the same in computer science?
Educators are well aware that the limiting factor in all of our teaching and learning is time, and the competition for that time among academic disciplines, athletics, extracurricular activities, service-learning programs, etc., is an ongoing struggle. But shouldn’t we be asking, are we really preparing our students to be 21st-century citizens if we’re not teaching them the logic of the 21st century – computational thinking through computer science?
Vinton Cerf says, “No.” And we agree.
When part of a high-quality academic program, computer science classes add an element that helps all students navigate our complex, technologically driven world. It also gives our graduates an edge over those who are not taught these increasingly essential skills.
On June 7, Harker student Dolan Dworak, grade 7, and upper school science teacher Kate Schafer will head to the Alaskan coastline to take part in an expedition kickstarted by the Anchorage Museum and the Alaska SeaLife Center, which will be the subject of a Web series planned by National Geographic. Dworak and Schafer will be part of an international team of scientists and artists that will observe the effects of garbage islands on marine life. The work performed during this expedition will later be turned into an exhibition at the Anchorage Museum called GYRE, which will appear at museums throughout the United States.
Dworak, who has spent three years working with the San Francisco-based Sea Scavenger Conservancy to help clean up the earth’s oceans, will act as the expedition’s social media coordinator at the Alaska SeaLife Center, located in Seward. Schafer, who has a background in marine biology and a passion for observing the effects of human activity on ocean ecosystems, will help develop the educational portions of the GYRE exhibition with the Anchorage Museum in preparation for the exhibition’s launch in February 2014.
Harker students earned several top placements at the California State Science Fair in April. In the senior division, Andrew Zhang, grade 10, and his partner took second place in the physics and astronomy category, classmate Sriram Somasundaram earned third place in microbiology, Christopher Fu and Daniel Pak, both grade 11, took fourth place in zoology, Nikash Shankar was awarded fourth place in pharmacology/toxicology and sophomore Rishabh Jain received an honorable mention in mathematics and software. In the junior division, Venkat Sankar, grade 8, won first place in environmental sciences.
In late April, grade 8 students Venkat Sankar, Arjun Subramaniam and Davd Zhu and grade 7 students Edgar Lin and Rajiv Movva traveled to Washington, D.C., for the National Science Bowl, in which the team placed fifth overall among 46 other teams hailing from 34 states. Middle school science teacher Vandana Kadam called the placing “a huge achievement for a school that started Science Bowl just three years ago.” Remarkably, the team went undefeated for the first nine rounds of the competition, and were just two rounds away from the championship match.
The team also managed to place 12th in a non-academic portion of the event in which the students had to build a vehicle that could carry a container of salt a distance of 20 meters in the shortest possible time, powered by a lithium ion battery. The Harker team’s vehicle went the distance in 7.6 seconds, just over one second longer than the first-place finisher’s vehicle.
Not ones to let a trip out of state go to waste, the students also saw the many sights offered by the nation’s capital, including the Natural History Museum, the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol Building.
Just shy of her 19th birthday, Jessica Lin ‘12 received word that her dream of becoming a published writer by the age of 18 had come true. Her short science fiction story titled “Mortar Flowers” was officially accepted for publication by Nature Journal, one of the world’s most cited interdisciplinary scientific periodicals.
It marked the first time Lin had ever sold a story, which was recently featured in the prestigious magazine’s special section for science fiction short stories called “Futures.” Started in 1999, “Futures” has today become an award-winning series. Publication in Nature Journal can lead to attention from the mainstream media.
“I still feel like I’m dreaming,” she said of the story acceptance, the best birthday present any young writer could ask for. “I can officially say I got published at the age of 18!” enthused Lin, who is double majoring in comparative literature and psychology at University of California, Berkeley.
Lin said she got the idea for the short story several years ago when she went on a “Wikipedia tangent” and discovered Sarajevo roses, which are deformations in the concrete caused by mortar shell explosions that are later filled with red resin as a memorial to the dead.
“As the concrete is being replaced in Sarajevo, these roses are disappearing. When I read that, I was immediately struck by the enigma of how they came to be, and I thought it was a terrible loss that they were being wiped out by construction. Three years later, I still hadn’t forgotten about them! It occurred to me that I could weave these two ideas together. Immediately, I had this vision of a flower boy in a fantastical war-torn city,” she said.
Despite having endured her share of literary rejections before landing a contract with Nature Journal, Lin has already sold another story called “Dark, Beautiful Force” (about love, disillusionment and doughnut holes) for publication at Daily Science Fiction.
Ever since her days at Harker, Lin’s writing career has been on a fast track to success. Back in 2011 and 2012, she was recognized by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers when she won two annual Scholastic Art and Writing Awards (both national silver medals) in the novel writing category. She accepted the second award at Carnegie Hall in New York City last June.
Lin recalled that during the awards ceremony, “Whoopi Goldberg and Meryl Streep gave very inspiring presentations about the importance of art and its impact on society. I will always remember something Meryl Streep said which was that the gift of writers is to express the things that we all feel, but are unable to put into words.”
“I’ve no doubt this is not the first the literary world will hear from Jessica!” said Lauri Vaughan, Harker’s upper school campus librarian, who served as Lin’s adviser before she graduated last year. Vaughan praised Lin for her magazine publication as well as for her remarkable previous accomplishments, winning the Scholastic silver medal two years in a row.
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have an impressive legacy dating back to 1923, with past winners including such notables as Andy Warhol, Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Robert Redford and Joyce Carol Oates. And, of course, Harker’s very own alumna, Jessica Lin!
Alex Pei, grade 11, and Lawrence Li, grade 9, are two of only 24 finalists in the 2013 USA Computing Olympiad (USACO). The pair will now attend training camp at Clemson University, May 23 – June 1, hoping to qualify for the final team that the United States will send to the International Olympiad in Infomatics (IOI) in Brisbane, Australia.
The USACO (usaco.org) is one of a small number of national high-school Olympiads in mathematics and the sciences that are tasked with identifying and training the very best students in the country in their respective disciplines. Harker has finalists in various Olympiads each year, but having two in the same discipline is unusual.
During the academic year, the USACO hosts a series of challenging on-line programming contests – many of these are notoriously difficult, since they require high proficiency in both programming and algorithmic problem-solving, said Brian Dean, director of the USA Computing Olympiad and associate professor of computer science, Clemson University. “My graduate students usually cannot solve the problems in these contests,” he added.
“Based on their performance on these contests, Alex and Lawrence were selected as part of a group of 24 finalists – the very best in the USA – to attend a rigorous academic summer training camp where they have the opportunity to learn advanced concepts and hear about cutting-edge challenges in modern computer science,” said Dean. “This camp is a unique and unforgettable experience, and helps to bring participants to the point where they are truly world-class in terms of their talent. Many of our alums have gone on to make impressive contributions in academia and industry, and the most highly-selective universities know well that our finalists are indeed the best in the world as prospective applicants.
“Selection as a finalist in any Olympiad is one of the most significant honors a high-school student can earn in any discipline of study. The fact that the Harker School has two USACO finalists this year speaks volumes about the quality of your computing programs, and reflects very highly upon your school. As director of the USACO, I’m looking forward to working with Alex and Lawrence in a few weeks when they attend our summer program,” said Dean.
Harker’s eighth annual Research Symposium drew more than 400 attendees, who marveled at the many exhibits, student presentations, breakout sessions and guest speakers that have made the symposium into one of the school’s signature events, unique for being organized largely by the student-run WiSTEM, chemistry, research and Sci Fy clubs.
The upper school campus was abuzz with activity as early as 8 a.m., when the symposium officially began. One of the busiest areas for the entire day was the Nichols Hall atrium and rotunda, where exhibitors such as Google, Ericsson and Symmetricom offered demonstrations of their products and talked with attendees, in addition to providing a mere glimpse at the wealth of career opportunities available to students of the sciences.
One of the more impressive pieces of technology on display was Anatomage’s “virtual cadaver,” a 3-D rendering of a human body that could be examined in amazing detail via a large touch screen, enabling classrooms without access to a real cadaver to study the human body up close.
Elsewhere in the atrium, SeaLife Aquarium Maintenance presented various sea creatures for visitors to view and handle. East Bay Cardiovascular and Thoracic Associates, represented by Harker parent Murali Duran (Rohan, grade 9; Lea, grade 11; Roshan, grade 12), had a heart station set up where visitors could learn how to perform sutures using store-bought pig hearts.
A large portion of the event was devoted to formal talks, also known as breakout sessions, delivered by Harker students. In these talks, students gave presentations on scientific research projects that they had done, many of which earned the students finalist or semifinalist placings in the Siemens Competition and the Intel Science Talent Search. In addition to demonstrating the high level of research being conducted by the students, these sessions also offered students the chance to show their research to (and take questions from) members of the greater scientific community.
The breakout sessions covered a wide variety of topics. Ashvin Swaminathan, grade 12, presented an analysis of surreal numbers, for which he was named an Intel Science Talent Search semifinalist and a Siemens Competition regional finalist. At another session, senior Rohan Chandra, another Siemens regional finalist, discussed the brain’s reaction to various features of Beethoven’s famous fifth symphony. Meanwhile, Siemens semifinalists Anika Gupta and Saachi Jain, both grade 11, presented their research on how an uncharacterized gene may have a hand in lowering the risk of ulcers and gastric cancer.
Middle school students also had their chance to shine, showing the results of their work with the many impressive poster presentations set up in the gym. The enthusiasm of these students was evident as they explained their projects and their implications to the fascinated passersby.
As always, the lunchtime chemistry magic show was a treat for the midday audience, who oohed and aahed at brilliant flames, exploding eggs, liquid-carbon-frozen bananas and other wonders of chemistry, as they enjoyed food freshly prepared by Harker’s kitchen staff.
Also during lunch was a special talk by Nikita Sinha ’09, currently in her senior year at the California Institute of Technology, who discussed the research she was conducting for her senior thesis, as well as the life experiences that led her to choose medical research as a career.
The first of the keynote speakers at the symposium was Dr. Kristian Hargadon, assistant professor of biology at Hampden-Sydney College. Hargadon took the morning audience on a journey through his progression from a young student athlete with dreams of being an NBA star to becoming a decorated cancer researcher, in addition to discussing some of his current work.
Surbhi Sarna ’03, this year’s alumni speaker, shared her story with the early afternoon audience. After suffering from an ovarian cyst in her early teens, Sarna became determined to create better conditions in the field of female health. Toward this end, she founded the venture-backed nVision Medical in 2009 to develop technology that will help gynecologists more quickly detect ovarian cancer.
This year’s featured speaker was Nobel Prize-winning biologist Dr. David Baltimore, whose work at the California Institute at Technology has recently yielded a method for preventing the spread of HIV. Baltimore provided an overview of how his process of injecting a harmless virus containing antibodies into the muscles of mice prevented HIV infection. Baltimore and his team are currently preparing to test this process in humans.
Another highlight of the event was a special panel of notable women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), which included such inspirational figures as Barbara Jones, project manager at the IBM Almaden Research Center; Monica Kumar, senior director of product marketing at Oracle; Tian Zhang, senior software engineer at IBM; and alumna Sinha.
The panel discussed the increasingly important role of women in the sciences, offering their insights into their respective fields as well as advice to the audience of young attendees on how to transform their love of science into successful careers.
The symposium closed with a panel of students and teachers providing students and parents with information on Harker’s research program and the various opportunities available, such as the Siemens and Intel contests, internships and research classes.
Harker’s WiSTEM club (Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) held this year’s STEM week in late January, as students in Harker’s various science-based clubs and organizations held special on-campus events to celebrate a range of scientific fields. Activities included a gaming event held by the Harker chapter of the Interscholastic Gaming League and a quiz bowl in which the upper school grade levels tested their knowledge in friendly competition.
During the week, STEM clubs also raised money by selling sweatshirts and treats. Prior to STEM week, each grade chose an organization that they wanted to support. Proceeds to each organization were split according to the number of participation points each class earned. Grade 12, with 275 points, gave $550 to Operation Smile. The juniors scored 175 points and donated $350 to charity: water. Grades 9 and 10 tied with 150 points and respectively sent $300 to Heal the Bay and Doctors Without Borders.
It was again a successful year at the Synopsys Championship for Harker middle and upper school students. Andrew Jin, grade 10, in the bioinformatics category, and Anika Radia-Dixit, grade 12, in medicine/health/gerontology, were both awarded grand prizes and an expenses-paid trip to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, which takes place May 12-17 in Phoenix, Ariz. Venkat Sankar, grade 8, received a middle school special prize and a trip to the California State Fair in Los Angeles for his project in the environmental sciences category.
Harker was also named one of the top three high schools at the event, and upper school science teacher Chris Spenner was one of the top three high school teachers. Thomas Artiss, middle school science teacher, was named most promising new teacher.
A total of 26 upper school students were winners of various awards at this year’s contest. In the biochemistry/microbiology category, Sriram Somasundaram, grade 10, earned a First Award, while classmate Stanley Xie won a Second Award along with Pranav Reddy, also grade 10, who also received an Honorable Mention Certificate of Achievement from MedImmune.
Rohith Bhethanabotla, grade 11,won a First Award in chemistry, while fellow junior Mercedes Chien received a Second Award in the same category. Freshmen Rishabh Chandra and Jonathan Ma and juniors Avinash Nayak and Shreyas Parthasarathy all won Second Awards in physics.
Rishabh Jain, grade 10, won a second award in computers/mathematics as well as a First Place award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, which included a certificate and programmable robot. In the same category, Cindy Liu, grade 10, earned an Honorable Mention, and juniors Brian Tuan and Andrew Wang each received Honorable Mention Student Awards and certificates from the Association for Computing Machinery.
In earth/space sciences, senior Andrew Luo received a Second Award, and junior Stephanie Chen and sophomore Matthew Huang each received Certificates of Achievement from the NASA Ames Research Center.
Neil Movva, grade 10, earned several recognitions in engineering, including a First Award, a Certificate of Achievement and $50 voucher from the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, an Honorable Mention from the U.S. Army and a Special Award from Varian Medical Systems, which included a $75 cash prize and a Certificate of Achievement. In the same category, Ramakrishnan Menon, grade 12, received a Second Award, was named a second-place student by the American Vacuum Society and was awarded a $50 cash prize and a Certificate of Achievement. Michael Kling, grade 11, also received a Second Award in this category and a Certificate of Achievement and Pewter Medallion Voucher from the Yale Science and Engineering Association. Yet another winner in engineering was Alison Rugar, grade 12, who earned a Third Place Award from A Society for Materials which included a $50 prize, a subscription to Popular Science magazine and a Certificate of Achievement. Finally, Avi Agarwal, grade 11, received an Honorable Mention.
In addition to Andrew Jin’s Grand Prize, the bioinformatics category also saw Steven Wang, grade 10, earn a First Award and a first place $150 cash prize and Certificate of Achievement and an award from the University of California, San Francisco Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology.
Other upper school winners were juniors Daniel Pak and Christopher Fu, who both received Second Awards in Zoology, senior Suchita Nety, who received a First Award in medicine/health/gerontology and sophomore Nikash Shankar, also a First Award winner in medicine/health/gerontology, who also won a second place prize of $200 from Rambus, honorable mention from MedImmune and an invite to the California States Science Fair.
The middle school had 16 students winning awards this year, including grade 8 students Avi Khemani and Manan Shah, who earned First Awards, and Jonathan Liu and Justin Xie, also both grade 8, who received Honorable Mentions in biochemistry/microbiology. In engineering, eighth graders Peter Wu, David Zhu and Amrita Singh all won Second Awards, with Singh also receiving a Certificate of Achievement and lapel pin from the National Society of Professional Engineers. Sandip Nirmel, also grade 8, received a Family and Friends membership from the Tech Museum of Innovation.
Eighth graders Aditya Dhar and Arjun Subramaniam each won Second Awards in computers/mathematics and Meena Gudapati, grade 7, won a First Award in behavioral/social. In the same category, grade 8 students Joyce Huang, Meilan Steimle and Swetha Tummala all earned Second Awards.
Grade 8 student Andrew Gu’s project in the botany category earned him a First Award, and Evani Radiya-Dixit, grade 8, was named a middle school Top Finalist for her medicine/health/gerontology project.
Congratulations to all the winners, and good luck next year!