Monday, April 9, 2012

Future Problem Solving

Congratulations to the following teams who have earned an
invitation to the State Bowl in Solon on April 20-21. Out of 148
teams registered for the Ohio program this year, 58 teams are
advancing to the next level of this international competition.
Vinny K, Prathna K, Megan P, & Haley Y
Sachi G, Phebe L, Michael T, & Grace X
Anthony C, John H, Adam I, & Hana L
Jorgen K, Cameron S, Shan S, & Kareem T
Joan C, Dhweeja D, Katelyn V, & Naomi W
Christine B, Clive C, Alexander I, & Kavya R
William L and Ammar L - Individual category

National History Day Competition

The district History Day competition was held on March
24 at Case Western Reserve University and our students
had outstanding results. Out of 31 students participating,
23 will advance to the state competition which will be held
at Ohio State University at the end of April. The theme this
year is Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History.

Beginning with the historical paper category, Maya
F placed first with her paper on Jane Edna Hunter, a
pioneering social reformer in Cleveland in the early 1900s
and Prathna K placed third with her paper on Nellie Bly,
an investigative reporter during the late 1800s.

In the individual website category, Dhweeja D placed
second and Kavya R placed third. Dhweeja’s website
was on the smallpox vaccine and Kavya’s focused on
revolutions in surgery and anatomy in the Renaissance.

Birchwood had three place finishers in the group website
category. Sachi G and Joan C took first with a website
focusing on the Hough Riots in Cleveland. Nate C and
Clive C placed second with their website on the Integrated
Circuit. Ammar M and Michael T placed third with their
website on the conservation movement in America. All
three groups will compete at the state competition.

In the performance categories, all of Birchwood's
performances placed and will advance. Megan P placed
second for her individual performance on the Salem Witch
Trials. In the group performances, Katelyn V, Christine
B, and Alexander I placed first with their performance
about the muckrakers in the early 1900s and Kareem T
and Cameron S placed second with a performance on
the Space Race.

In the individual documentary category, Birchwood took the
top three spots. Naomi W placed first with a focus on the
Berlin Wall. Adam I placed second with his documentary
on Joseph McCarthy and Peter A took third with his look
at President Truman’s firing of Douglas MacArthur in the
Korean War.

In the group documentary category, Pheby L and Grace
X took first for their documentary on the Montgomery Bus
Boycott.

In the individual exhibit category, Anna H placed first for
her exhibit on Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring which
started the environmental movement. John H earned an
honorable mention for his exhibit on the Winchester rifle
and will compete at the state competition.

In addition, Maya F received recognition and a cash
award from the Early Settlers Association of the Western
Reserve for her paper on a local topic, and Peter A
received recognition and an invitation to a reception hosted
by the Cleveland Grays for his focus on a military topic.
Congratulations to all these students and good luck at the
state competition on April 28!

Science Olympiad

On Saturday, March 10th, the Science Olympiad Team
competed at CSU. Team members Alia B, Avi B, Megan
S, Grace C, William L, Jane N, Farah S, Channin M,
Anika R, Annessa W, Elizabeth P, Emma P, Cameron
K, Maya D, Abigail M, Nikhita K, Olivia S, Sahej B,
Layla N, and Asim S were accompanied by Mrs. Sayad
and Mrs.Samad-DuVall (Anatomy judges), Mr. Poole,
Mrs. McNaughton, Mr. and Mrs. Najeeullah/Landrum,
Ms. Haskins, Ms. Whitlow, Mrs. Busnawi, Mr. Kaderle, 10
Ms. Kohut, Ms. Zwolinski, Mrs. Redi and Mrs. Stewart.
The parent help was wonderful! There were 24 different
events spread out in two buildings and on four floors! The
parents made sure the students arrived at their events on
time and were escorted safely back to Birchwood’s “camp.”

Avi B and Megan S earned 1st place in Aerodynamics.
William L and Annessa W won 2nd place in the Egg Drop
competition, and William L and Avi B took 3rd place for
Don’t Bug Me (Insects). Emma P and Channin M earned
3rd place in Experimental Design and Abigail M and
Farah S placed 4th in Simple Machines. Thank you to all
the students for their hard work!

BEST Science Fair

The BEST Science Fair was on March 24th. Vinayak
K: Practical Heart Health Snapshot for Children using
Anthropometric and Physical Activity Measurements won
first place for the Northeast Ohio Medical University Gold
Award for Clinical Trials Gold Medal and also received the
Cleveland Clinic Department of Biomedical Engineering
Award (Grades 7-10th).

Western Reserve Science Dat

Four students took their projects to Western Reserve
Science Day on March 17: Maya D: Toothbrushes:
Electric vs. Manual. Which one removes more bacteria?
Maya received the Excellence award. Anika R: Test
Effectiveness of Lysol Kitchen Cleaner, Clorox Anywhere
Cleaner, and White Distilled Vinegar on Bacterial Growth.
Anika received the Excellence award. Dhweeja D: Body
composition and sleep patterns in an urban pediatric
population: a prospective study. Dhweeja received the
Excellence award and the Ohio Nursing Association:
Best Health/Nursing-related Project (Middle School)
Award. Vinayak K: Practical Heart Health Snapshot
for Children using Anthropometric and Physical Activity
Measurements. Vinayak received 3rd place Health
and Medicine and advanced to State Science Fair. In
addition, several Birchwood Alumni earned awards for their
projects: Zaeem L: Butea monosperma Flower Extract
Inhibits the Immune Response of Human Osteoarthritic
Chondrocytes in vitro which received an award from the
Cleveland Botanical Garden and an award from CSU
Department of Health Sciences and Anirudh D:
PtSymmetric Boundary Conditions in Quantum Mechanics
was a Grand Prize Winner. Anirudh was selected to attend
The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel
ISEF) the world’s largest international pre-college science
competition in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from May 13-18!

North Eastern Ohio Science and Engineering Fair

After showing their projects to the judges at Birchwood,
students then attended North Eastern Ohio Science
and Engineering Fair March 12-15: Kavya R: From
circles to ellipses to vectors: Improving the accuracy
of predicting Earth’s orbit. Kavya received 2nd place
American Meteorological Society and was selected
to Broadcom MASTERS Middle School Competition.
Dhweeja D: Body composition and sleep patterns in an
urban pediatric population: a prospective study. Dhweeja
received 2nd place Health and Medicine and was selected
for Broadcom MASTERS Middle School Competition,
Cleveland State University Department of Health Sciences
Best Health Sciences Project Award, Cleveland Clinic
Department of Biomedical Engineering Outstanding
Biomedical Engineering Project Award, American Statistical
Association Award, and a US Army Achievement Award for
best Science Project. Vinayak K: Practical Heart Health
Snapshot for Children using Anthropometric and Physical
Activity Measurements. Vinayak received 1st place Health
and Medicine, American Statistical Association - Cleveland
Chapter Award and was selected for Broadcom MASTERS
Middle School Competition, Cleveland Clinic - Children’s
Hospital Award, and Cleveland Clinic - Kaufman Center
for Heart Failure Award.

Birchwood Science Fair

The Birchwood School Science Fair projects were shown to
the judges on March 2 and later to the whole school where
fourteen 5th grade students, eight 6th grade students,
two seventh grade students and one 8th grade student
showed their projects.

Continental Math League Meet #5 Awards

Gold: Peter, Nate, Clive, Dhweeja, Kavya, Naomi,
Vinayak, Ammar, Michael T, William, Anika, Sahej, Avi,
Michael H, Abigail, Kevin, Farah

Silver: Sachi, Alexander I, Cameron S, Kareem, Prathna,
Pheby, Grace X, Maryum, Jack, Grace C, Caroline,
Laurie, Cameron K, Elizabeth, Mihir

Bronze: Christine, Joan, Jorgen, Shan, Katelyn, John
H, Adam, Maya D, Nikhita, Rami, Olivia, Megan S

Math Olympiads Meet #5 Awards

Gold: Nate, Clive, Dhweeja, Kavya, John H, Prathna,
Vinayak, Ammar, William, Anika

Silver: Alexander I, Jorgen, Kareem, Pheby, Maryum,
Grace, Caroline

Bronze: Peter, Christine, Sachi, Naomi, Anthony, Anna,
Michael T, Nikhita, Mihir, Kevin, Farah

MathCounts - Chapter Level

At the Northeast Ohio MathCounts Chapter competition
Kavya R, Dhweeja R, Clive C, and Nate C placed first
in the team competition, took first in the team countdown
round, and Clive C received a perfect score. Vinayak
K placed sixth individually. These same students went
on to the state level of competition and had another
outstanding performance. The team placed first. Clive
C finished first individually, Kavya R placed fourth, and
Nate C placed twelfth. This is the third year Birchwood
has won the chapter competition, the second consecutive
year to be named Ohio’s winner, and the second year
that Mr. Debelak has been named Ohio’s math coach.
Mr. Debelak, Clive, Kavya, and two students from
Cincinnati (the top four finishers in the state) will travel to
Orlando for the National Competition in May

Letters About Literature Round Three

For Letters About Literature, several students made it
into Round Three of the Ohio judging. From 568 Level
II submissions in the middle school grades, 22 pieces or
3.9% were selected. Included in this category are Pheby
L (7th), Joan C (8th), Shan S (8th), and Dhweeja D (8th)
whose letters were chosen for their ability “to express their
inner voice and imagination.” In Level I of this competition
for grades 4-6, Jack B and Grace C, both sixth graders,
were also contenders. They placed in the top 24 out of 495
submissions. In addition, we are very proud of Olivia S, the
only fifth grader who placed among the top 24 entrants in
the state of Ohio. Thus, in both Levels I and II, Birchwood
students make up about one-eighth of the students in the
entire state whose writing reached this high level of judging.
We congratulate these semifinalists for the “quality and
caliber” of their writing. State winners are currently being
determined.

Scholastic Art and Writing Award - Silver Medal

Katelyn V, eighth grader, earned national recognition in
the 2012 Scholastic Art Writing Awards for her memoir
entitled “The Flipped Penny.” This award is presented by
the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers where winners have
been identified by panels of professional writers. From
13,000 regional Gold Key pieces submitted nationwide,
the top 11% were chosen for this prestigious honor.
Katelyn earned a Silver Medal and is invited to the Awards
Ceremony at Carnegie Hall on June 1. We are proud to
have her represent our school in this year’s event.

4th Grade Math CML

Congratulations to the following for their success on the
final Continental Math League contest: Gold Medal: Farah
S, Silver Medal: Channin M, Jane N, and Annessa W,
and Bronze Medal: Tejal P. Great work, Everyone!

3rd Grade Math CML

Congratulations to the following student for their success
on the final Continental Math League contest: Silver Medal
winners: Stella C, Makenah F, and Shruthi R. Bronze
Medal winners: Zuha J, Julie L, Alex M, Tarek N, and
Dan X. Great Job!

Service Update

Though Harvest for Hunger final totals are still being tallied,
the third and fourth graders finished counting the classroom
food and money donations as well as Penny War jars. The
winning classes were the 8th Grade (classroom drive) and
the 1st Grade (Penny War). Congratulations to these two
classes and thank you to all who participated. The third
and fourth grade students recently walked 300 food
items next door to the Bountiful Basement! The food pantry
was extremely grateful for the contribution.

The eighth graders made over $300 at their Bake Sale
during the morning of the last Reading Day. The proceeds
will go toward their class gift. They plan to add framed
pictures of famous leaders alongside the Lincoln picture in
the “leadership stairwell” between the 1st and 2nd floors.