Young Astronauts Day 2010

On Saturday, November 6, 2010, two teams of students
with the help of Ms. Hsiao, Ms. Annaswamy, Mr. Kurup,
and Mr. Zinolabedini spent a day at NASA Glenn
competing in the Young Astronaut Day engineering
challenges. The Pilots, composed of Prathna K, Grace
X, Grace C, Ammar M, Haley Y, Vinny K, Alexis H,
Caroline V, Darius Z, Anna H, and Michael T earned a
first place in the Balloon Car Race and the Marble Roller
Coaster events. They earned a third place ribbon for the
In-space Repair.

The Commander Team was composed of Jorgen K,
Hannah Y, Kavya R, Naomi W, Katelyn V, Sunny R, Sue
R, Sachi G, Dhweeja D, Dalya A, Clive C, and Kareem
T. They earned a second place ribbon in an event called
Lunar Rock Race. One person had (got) to wear a real
astronaut suit and pick up certain categories of rocks
with an extended reach tool. They picked up the greatest
number of “correct” rocks in the shortest amount of time.

This is the second year that YAD students were involved
in a community service activity in which they brought a
designated kind of canned food and used the cans to build
a structure resembling a “Robonaut”. The canned food was
then donated to the Cleveland Food Bank.

Math Awards Reported in December 2010

This month the fourth graders took the first of 5 contests
for the Continental Math League. Winners were: Gold
Medal: Bianca H, Maya D, and Sophie C, Silver Medal:
Elizabeth P, Avi B, Abby M, and Sahej B, and Bronze
Medal: Victor P, Michael H, and Cam K.

Continental Math League:
Gold Awards (6 of 6 correct)
Trevor, Sue, Prithvi, Hassan, Alexander, Kareem, Kavya,
Dhweeja, Clive, Nate, Christine, Cameron, Shan, Katelyn,
Naomi, Prathna, Vinny, Pheby, Ammar, Grace, William
Silver Awards (5 of 6 correct)
Sunny, Marla, Sean, Brad, Daniel, Hannah, Peter, Sachi,
Jorgen, Michael, Darius, Haley, Maya, Alexis, Megan, Anna
Bronze Awards (4 of 6 correct)
Sam, Alex P, Sarah D, Joan, Dalya, Alex H, Anthony

Math Olympiads:
Gold Awards (5 of 5 correct)
Trevor, Clive, Nate, Dhweeja
Silver Awards (4 of 5 correct)
Kavya, Haley, Anna H, William
Bronze Awards (3 of 5 correct)
Sue, Sunny, Marla, Prithvia, Hassan Sam, Daniel, Hannah
Y, Sarah D, Kareem, Christine B, Darius, Anthony

Birchwood Students Help Feed 500 Area Families

Students of Birchwood School, located at 4400 W 140 Street, have been busy helping volunteers from the Blessed Trinity parish in their efforts to feed the poor. This past spring volunteers from the Bountiful Basement, a food pantry located on the Blessed Trinity grounds, planted a garden to provide fresh vegetables for area families in need. The students have been helping enthusiastically to plant and harvest the produce, unload food trucks, gather food items for the holidays, and pack bags for needy families. Part of the school’s mission is to build solid work habits in a caring environment, while forging a sense of social responsibility within each student.

“I can’t begin to tell you what a help Birchwood has been to the Bountiful Basement, especially this Thanksgiving season,” says Bountiful Basement director Tami Graf. “Some of the eighth grade boys even help unload the food truck, a very unselfish act.”

The Bountiful Basement was formed in the late 1990’s when the Cleveland Hunger Network decided to establish sites further west of the city. In the beginning they served as few as 20 to 30 families per month. Currently that number has grown to 500 families, and during the holidays, they are expecting to help as many as 700. The students are currently gathering food items to assist the volunteers in making this holiday season a great one! Donations are always welcome at the Bountiful Basement located at 4370 W 140 Street.

Birchwood School Is Awarded The Physical Fitness State Champion Award

CLEVELAND-Birchwood School has earned the highest award for outstanding achievement in physical fitness, according to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition, and was distinguished as a President’s Challenge Physical Fitness State Champion School for 2009-2010. Every student participated in 5 events designed to test speed, strength, flexibility, and endurance, and 25 percent achieved at least the eighty-fifth percentile in all 5 events.

Birchwood students have been participating in the President’s Challenge since the late eighties, and have received this award five times since they opened their doors in 1984. “Participation in the State Champion Program demonstrates their commitment to serving as a leader and role-model in physical fitness,” said Shellie Pfohl, Executive Director of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition.

Students this school year have already been running around the school grounds as they practice for the mile run, one of the five events included in the President’s Challenge.

The following was not submitted to the press:

Presidential Award Winners 2009-2010
Alexander D, Chester H, Sarah M, Emma P, Alexis H, Maya F, Alex P, Vinny K, Grace C, Isabella M, Sarah D, Sanjana R, Clare P, Sophia C, Abigail M, Elizabeth P, Sahej B, Sachi G, Shawki A, Zaeem M, Miguel P, Grant F, Nathan C, Miranda M, Aide S, Arjun B, and Haley Y

Birchwood School Branches Out to Communities Offering Fruits of Many Years’ Experience

In the midst of an economic crisis and during a period of educational decline, Birchwood School has launched a public service initiative for parents who want to give their children an academic advantage in a global marketplace. In addition, Birchwood would like to share its premier character-training program, which helps parents to nurture responsibility, strong work habits, and positive attitudes in their young. This initiative includes lectures and book discussions at Birchwood School such as The Cumulative Advantage: The Rationale For Investing in Early Education, and a discussion of Lawrence Steinberg’s popular book, Beyond the Classroom.

Another avenue through which Birchwood is giving back to the community is via free coffee house talks in Bay Village, North Ridgeville, and Medina. These informative discussions will focus on the education of bright and gifted children in elementary and middle school. They will center firmly on history and research, which strongly urge that special educational attention be given to these young people who will become tomorrows' leaders among the various disciplines of society.

Book Discussions
-Beyond the Classroom by Lawrence Steinberg, October 21
-Mindsets by Carol Dweck, December 9
-Reforming Education by Mortimer Adler, February 2
-The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle, April 21

Lectures
-The Tenets of Great Education, September 23
-Cultivating Creativity in Young People, November 17
-IQ: Its Meaning and Implications for Education, January 20
-The Cumulative Advantage: the Rationale for Investing in Early Education, March 24

Lectures and book discussions will take place at Birchwood School from 2-3pm & 7-8pm

Coffee House Discussions
The education of bright and gifted children

October 12 Mojo’s Coffee and More Bay Village 6:30-8pm
October 14 Café 83 North Ridgeville 6:30-8pm
October 18 Panera Medina 6:30-8pm

Birchwood School and Teacher Receive Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Youth Science Opportunities

Cleveland—On September 1, 2010 The Birchwood School and science teacher, Linda Brown, were the sole Cleveland recipients of the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Youth Science Opportunities. The Ohio Academy of Science selected 115 Ohio schools and 418 teachers to receive Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Youth Science Opportunities for their accomplishments during the 2009-2010 school year.

To qualify for the Governor’s Award, each school conducted a local science fair with 20 or more students, sent one or more of these students to one of the Academy’s 16 district science days, and involved students in one or more youth science opportunities beyond the classroom such as State Science Day, visits to museums, mentorship programs an extended field trip.

In February of this year, Brown conducted a local science fair involving 30 students. Two of these students, Dhweeja D and Vinayak K, received superior ratings at the district level and advanced to the Ohio State Science Day where they also turned out superior ratings.

In addition to these achievements, Brown and her students participated in Science Olympiads, National Chemistry Week Experiments, Young Astronaut Day, as well as taking part in a four day program at the Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Center.

“Receiving a Governor’s Award for Excellence sends a clear signal that these schools and teachers value student-originated, inquiry-based science education as outlined in the Ohio Science Education Standards and in the National Science Education Standards,” said Lyn Elfner, the Academy’s CEO. “Whole new worlds of opportunities open up to students when they complete research or technological design projects.” he continued.

Birchwood School Students Continue To Produce Outstanding Results in National History Day Competition; Four Place in National Finals

*Revised*
CLEVELAND— Birchwood students had another excellent showing at the National History Day competition in June at the University of Maryland. The students reached the national level after placing in the top spots at both the district competition at Case Western Reserve University in March and the state competition at The Ohio State University in April. At the national competition, Birchwood students were up against the best from all 50 states, American Samoa, Guam, and Department of Defense schools in Europe. Four Birchwood students advanced to the finals, and Birchwood was one of only three schools in the nation to have three entries advance to the finals. Ben W placed sixth overall, with an individual documentary on Johannes Gutenberg and the printing press. Zaeem M and Clare P finished seventh overall with their group performance on the Marshall Plan. Nathan C finished thirteenth with an individual website on Alan Freed, a well known Cleveland deejay. Amir F narrowly missed qualifying for the finals, coming in third in his preliminary judging room and receiving high marks for his paper on Garrett Morgan, a Cleveland inventor.

The National History Day Competition is an educational program which requires students to conduct primary and secondary research on a particular theme and present their work through creative and scholarly projects. After a series of district and state contests, the program culminates with a national competition. Birchwood School has produced 152 national qualifiers and 68 national finalists over its history.