Newsworthies

2003-2004

The WPI/MA Academy FIRST Team scored a third at IRI (Indiana Robotics Competition in Indianapolis) this past week (7/5/04) and won both the President's Award and Leadership in Controls Award. Participating were several newly minted grads, Sarah Rich, Heather Senecal, Rachelle Horwitz, and Jon Gibbons, and senior, Garrett Cavanaugh.
Following a first place in the Regional Science Fair, Bethany Vitaris represented the Academy at the International Science Fair held in Portland, OR, May 2004.
At the Cape Cod Feis (Irish Step Dance Competitions, May 9-10) Meghan Whitney, in the Novice Category, won 1st in Light Jig and 2nd in Slip Jig while Maria Firstenberg, in the Beginner Category, won 2nd in Slip Jig and 3rds in Reel and Light Jig.
Caitlin Dooley (‘05) will serve on the State-Wide Student Advisory Council (’04-’05) having been elected to that position by the delegates of the Central Region State Student Advisory Committee.
Jonathon Gibbons, National Merit Finalist
Sarah Rich, National Merit Finalist
14 members of the Academy Junior Class ('05) qualified for participation in the 2005 National Merit Scholarship Program
Brian Wandrei was team high scorer at the Worcester County Math League meet in Shrewsbury.
At the MA State Science Fair at MIT (May 2004), the MA Academy won several top awards: Sarah Taylor, a First; Rachel Johnson, a First; Yoojin Kwak, Sarah Rich and Avtar Khalsa (team), a Second; Maggie Frost, a Second; Bethany Vitaris, a Third; Liz Baran, a Third; Sam Wilner, a Third; and Paul Dovydaitis, Honorable Mention.
The WPI/MA Academy FIRST Team won a major award, the Engineering Inspiration Award, at the regional competition in Manchester. Sarah Rich, Rachelle Horwitz, Jon Gibbons, Heather Senecal, Jake Portnoy, David Merritt and Paul Dovydaitis were the traveling team members from the Academy.
See pictures of the award-winning robot...
The WPI/MA Academy FIRST Team (190) won a major award from the Xerox Corporation at the National Championships in Atlanta (April, 2004):

Xerox - Creativity. This award celebrates creative design, use of a component, or creative or unique strategy of play. In addition, the Team also won 4 individual team awards: Most Innovative Design from the Port Perry Rebels (Team 1006), Thinking Outside the Box from Buzz Robotics (Team 175), Best Autonomous Mode from Oaktown Crewz (Team 1188) and Autonomous Program from Team 22.
WPI/Academy FIRST Team placed 8th out of 36 in Phoenix and picked up two awards: The Xerox Creativity Award for their clever defense strategy and mechanism and a "Hang Ten" Award from an established team, #60. (3/10-15/04).
At the 49th Regional Science Fair the following students received awards: Bethany Vitaris won a first place award. Rachel Johnson, Jen Thompson and Maggie Frost won second place awards. Sam Wilner won a third place. Liz Baran and Sarah Taylor won fourth place awards; and Sara Taylor also won the cover design award for her submission for next year’s 50th Anniversary Program Cover.
Jon Cass, Sarah Rich, Yoojin Kwak, Xidi Liu, and Rachel Johnson took 1st place in the Small School division in the State Math Meet on 8 April 2004. As a result of an outstanding score, they were invited to the New England Regional Math Meet.
Jon Cass, Sarah Rich and Brian Wandrei earned Perfect Scores at the April WOCOMAL math meet.
Jon Ogilvie, Tom Slack, and Brian Wandrei received a Regional Outstanding Award, the second highest National award given, for their achievement on the annual High School Modeling Contest in Mathematics.
Terry O'Brien, 2nd Place, Giant Slalom, Bay State Games
Thanos Kantarelis, 14th Seed, New England Region, US Tennis Association
Mock-Trial Team, 3-1
Brian Demers, Presenter, National Youth Crime Prevention Conference, Washington DC, 15 Feb 2004
Kerry Klein, Violin, All-State Orchestra
Rosemary Metcalf, Flute, All-State Concert Band
The MA Academy Envirothon Team, Maria Firstenberg, Larry Nelson, Meghan Whitney, Liz Baran, Hovig Charchaflian, and Vijay Ravichandran, won 7th place overall in the Statewide meet (40 contenders), with 2nd and 3rd place showings in Wetlands and Lakeshore Ecology subsections, respectively.

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Last modified: Oct 04, 2004, 17:39 EDT