New Rochelle High School Science Program Inducts 13 Students into Science Honor Society, More

Written By: Talk of the Sound News

The Science Department at New Rochelle High School has been keeping students and the community engaged in scientific endeavors over the past school year.

On June 5 thirteen students were inducted into the Science Honor Society: Exia Burns, Nicole Calautu, Rafael Cisneros, Michael Dorman, Katherine Eacobacci, Alesandra Greco, Ben Hirsh, Akshay Koottala, Ashley Kurian, Madeline Miceli, Robyn Oster, Joseph Ramondelli and Kaya Thomas. These students were recognized for their service and academic achievement in science.

On June 5 seven seniors presented the research they completed at various laboratories in the metropolitan region: Tara Asokan, Olivia Watkins, Simone Wien, Frank Wiegand, Jacob Lynch, Julia Schwarz and Benjamin Ackerman. In addition, Akshay Koottala presented the research he is presently doing at Iona College with Dr. Sunghee Lee. Akshay was the winner of our first poster contest.

Earlier this spring, on March 1st, a planetarium show was followed by a viewing of the planets Jupiter and Venus with telescopes on the roof. Monthly shows are free and open to the public. Planetarium director, Bruce Zeller, earth science teacher, Jeff Wuebber and members of the astronomy department from Columbia University served as guides to the celestial sky.

The Science Olympiad Team, under to direction of Tom Byrne and Rekha Liveris, participated in the regional competition in Armonk in February. Out of 32 teams Team A placed 6th and Team B placed 8th.

Following are the list of the medal winners:

Forestry
5th Place – Team A – Faizah Aliyu and Tara Asokan
6th Place – Team B – Derek Gazis and Eunice Osei-Boasike

Microbe Mission
5th Place – Team B – Jessica Barbaria and Sabrina Petrov

Optics
2nd Place – Team A – Harris Shabbir and James Ronan

Protein Modeling
4th Place – Team B – Jessica Barbaria and Sabrina Petrov and
Adaugo Ezike

Rocks and Minerals
4th Place – Team B – Marco Barragan and Faizah Aliyu

Robot Arm
2nd Place – Team A – Marco Barragan and Thomas Ford

Helicopter
2nd Place – Team A – Tevin Otieno and Emad Piracha
3rd Place – Team B – Camron Natabachian and Neil Orans

Gravity
5th Place – Team B – Derek Reifer and Zachary Scheinfeld

Magnetic Levitation
1st Place – Team A – Thomas Ford and Harris Shabbir
2nd Place – Team B – Collins Cox and Joshua Herman

Over this past February Break, six New Rochelle High School students (Rebecca Angus, Thomas Ford, Gwen Hobson, Christina Katechis, Vanessa Maldonado, and Alexis Sherwood), along with earth science teacher Jeff Wuebber, gave up their break (along with running water and phones) to travel to Nicaragua to build a home for a family in a rural community.

In March, science teacher, Dr. Pat Cushing, demonstrated maple sugaring.

Nia Walker, Vice President of the Science Honor Society, received a $1,000 scholarship from the National Science Honor Society.

The Westchester Science & Engineering Fair was held on Sat., March 10, 2012 at Sleepy Hollow HS. A record number of 330 student presenters showcased their research achievements in this highly competitive high school science competition. Seven NRHS research students competed in this event. Julia Schwarz won first place in the chemistry division, Jacob Lynch and Frank Wiegand finished second in the Engineering Team division. Olivia Watkins received special recognition from Fisher Scientific for her work in the field of Behavioral Science.

Seniors Julia Schwarz and Ben Ackerman competed in the Upstate NY Junior Science and Humanities Symposium in Albany on March 19, 2012. This is one of the most prestigious forums for young scientists in the country. Thirty five of the top research students from across the state competed. Julia and Ben had to qualify for this competition by winning the Westchester Area competition. NY was well represented. Julia and Ben presented their work to a panel of scientist judges in the Physical Sciences category. Congratulations to Ben who won a scholarship award for Excellence in the Field of Chemistry. Junior Akshay Kootala won the first annual NRHS Science Research Poster Competition. Akshay presented his work on controlling the structures of crystals grown in confined environments. Akshay’s research is being done in collaboration with his mentor Dr. Sunghee Lee at Iona College. He will be presenting his poster at the annual Science Symposium being held on June 5th.

A special presentation of the film GASLAND was attended by students and community members. A discussion with representatives from the Westchester for Change group and the Sierra Club followed.

On April 27th, the City of New Rochelle invited students from the GREEN Club to participate in a tree planting ceremony in front of the Twin Lakes as part of Arbor Day.

A greenhouse was installed at at the high school. With a $5000 award received from station RNN last year for Sustainability Day and additional funding from central administration, a greenhouse was installed in the spring near the walkway to House IV. In addition, Frank Miceli of Sammarco Stone Works donated a stone patio with benches was installed around the greenhouse. Phil Maresco is in the process of restoring a sundial donated by the Class of 1933.

On June 5 students and staff were able to observe the transit of Venus across the sun.