Student Honors
Students at USJ routinely earn top honors in academic, fine arts and leadership competitions. As students enter competitions this school year, results will be posted on this page.
Teams and Students take top honors at TMTA math competition
Five was a magic number for University School of Jackson at the Tennessee Math Teachers Association regional math competition. USJ took the first place team award in all five divisions in which USJ students competed.
Individuals taking first-place honors in their divisions were Chelsea Kee for Advanced Topics and Calculus, Thomas Burton in Algebra II, Angad Bindra in Geometry, and John Villarreal in Algebra I.
Finishing in the top ten for Advanced Topics and Calculus were Eric Villarreal, second; Colton Norton, third; Joshua Self, fourth; Kwame Nuako, sixth; Neel Patel, seventh; and Brad Pearson, ninth. Senior Eric Dietz also competed as a member of the team.
In Pre-Calculus, Rachel Deaton finished second; Hannah Lifsey, third; Tyler Tollison, fifth; and Stephanie Shackleford, sixth.
In the Algebra II division, Abbey Orr was second; Jacob Cohen, third; Halle Priester, fourth; and Zach Austin, fifth.
USJ took the top six spots in Geometry. After Bindra, Shane Vargason finished second; Gray Magee, third; Chloe Meriwether, fourth; Sarathi Sarkar, fifth; and Leo Oshiro, sixth.
In the Algebra I division, Akua Nuako was second; James Markos, third; Pauline Aherrera, fifth; and Parker Darnall, sixth.
Nine USJ Students selected to attend Tennessee Governor’s Schools
USJ has nine students accepted into Tennessee Govenor’s schools for summer 2010; four students were selected as alternates.
Kwame Nuako, a junior, was selected to attend two schools, Governor’s School for the Sciences and the School for Computational Physics, and was named as an alternate to the School for Data Analysis. Also selected to attend the School of Sciences was Zach Austin, with Thomas Burton and Habeeb Suara chosen as alternates. Singh Bindra was selected to attend the School for Data Analysis.
Selected to attend the School of Visual Arts were Haley Russell, Chloe Meriwether, Jade James-Gist and Ann Elizabeth Lynch. Rachel Harmon was selected as an alternate. Caleb West was selected to attend the School of Vocal Arts.
The State of Tennessee provides 12 summer programs for gifted and talented high school students. These programs provide challenging and intensive learning experiences in these disciplines: Arts, Humanities, International Studies, Engineering, Science, Prospective Teachers, Scientific Exploration of Tennessee Heritage, Information Technology Leadership, and Agricultural Science.
Science Olympiad
Neel Patel and Evan Baker were among ten from the region that were nominated to compete in the national examination that may qualify them to become members of the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad team. The team will compete in the 41st International Chemistry Olympiad in Tokyo, Japan July 19 -28, 2010.
The students qualified based on their performance at the 30h Annual UTM High School Science Bowl at the University of Tennessee at Martin (see story below) and were nominated by Kentucky Lake Section of the American Chemical Society.
The examination consists of three sections: a multiple choice test, written responses, and a laboratory practical. Twenty students will be identified nationwide based on the performance on this test and will undergo intensive training in June at the U. S. Air Force Academy in Colorado for the International Chemistry Olympiad.
Regional Science Bowl
USJ’s Science Bowl team, top right, earned a second-place trophy at the 30th annual Regional Science Bowl at the University of Tennessee at Martin on November 14. Top scorers for USJ were Neel Patel, Josh Self, Evan Baker, Thomas Burton, and Kate McKnight. After three bowl rounds, the team placed second and received silver medals and a trophy.
The following students received certificates of merit for their performance at the Science Bowl …
• Evan A. Baker: biology, chemistry, and physics
• Singh Bindra: chemistry and physics
• Thomas Burton: chemistry and biology
• Russell Hollman: biology
• Kate McKnight: biology and chemistry
• Neel Patel: biology and chemistry
• Joshua Self: chemistry
• Warner Thomas: biology
The entire science bowl team pictured, middle right, is, first row, from left, Karrington Atkins, Evan Baker, Angad Bindra, Thomas Burton, Mahmood Dardas, and Rachel Deaton; second row, Parker Darnall, Colleen Gilroy, Harrison Donahoe, Russell T Hollman, Kate McKnight, and Kwame Nuako; third row, Chirag Odhav, Kenny Oshiro, Leo Oshiro, Neel Patel, and Maggie Rheney, fourth row, Josh Self, Habeeb Suara, Sophia Tan, Ross Thomas, and Warner Thomas; and fifth row, Shane Vargasan, William Wheeler, Jane Ramer (teacher), SM/ACS Sean Malloy, Malea Mullins (teacher), and Dr. S. K. Airee.
2009 Yearbook Receives Top Honors
USJ's yearbook, The Bruin 2009, was inducted into Walsworth Publishing Company's Gallery of Excellence, which recognizes the top yearbooks published by the company in a year. The Bruin 2009 was selected by Walsworth to receive this honor as it was found to be an extraordinary example of a high school yearbook. As a member of the Gallery of Excellence, the Bruin will be used as a well-crafted example of what makes a great yearbook. The Bruin 2009 will be shown to schools across the country and be displayed at regional, state, and national conventions and workshops. Spreads from many Gallery of Excellence yearbooks are also used for example illustrations in Walsworth's educational materials. 2009 Bruin editors are Mallory Yancey and Hewitt Hanafee; Linda Hawks is yearbook advisor.
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Other Student Honors
National Merit Winners
AP Scholars
Duke Talent Search
2009-2010 Yearbook Staff Receives Honor
The 2009-2010 yearbook staff was honored by Walsworth Publishing Company for successfully meeting all of its copy shipment deadlines for the 2009-2010 school year. The staff and faculty advisor, Linda Hawks, received a certificate of special recognition for their hard work and dedication.
Region and State Envirothon
USJ Envirothon teams placed first, second, and fourth in the Region Envirothon.
• Members of the first place USJ Blue Team were Taylor Gaston, Ryan Denton, Shelby Moore, Zach Carver, and Chloe Cantor.
• The second place USJ Red Team consisted of Katherine Glover, Matt Weiner, Kyle Bryan, Sarah Haltom, and Thomas Burton.
• Members of the fourth place USJ White Team were Carly Hill, Keith Dubina, Dhun Sharma, Matthew Giampapa, and Becky Hooper.
In the state Envirothon, Becky Hooper scored first place in a special category, Groundwater Pollution.
National, State French Exam winners
Eighth grade students Ally Glover and Govind Bindra placed in the top 10 nationally on the National French Exam. Ally ranked seventh; Govind ranked eighth.
Ranking in the top ten in the state on the exam were seventh graders Maryam Ahmad, Peyton Antwine, Reese Antwine, Rachel Harris, and Steven Mysiewicz, who placed ninth, and Shelby Spurgeon, who placed tenth.
Eighth graders receiving top ten rankings in the state included Ally Glover, third; Govind Bindra, fourth; Lauren Randolph, sixth; Monica Subia, seventh; Cal Bigford and Holly Deming, eighth; Haley Daugherty ninth; and Mattie Boyd, tenth.
LS students win at Regional Science Fair
Details …
Second Grader wins poetry contest
Shivam Sofat, a second grader, won the 2010 Neuroscience for Kids Poetry Writing Contest for his poem “Brain.” He received the book, “The Endocrine System,” from Capstone Press as his prize.
Neuroscience for Kids Poetry Writing Contest is national level poetry contest in which the contestants have to write a poem about the nervous system and the contestants are divided into age groups. The prizes for the winners are sponsored by Neuro4kids.Com and Capstone Press.
Robotics competition
Congratulations to the USJ Robotics team for placing first in the Regional Competition. Team members — Christian Krause, Alex Crossett, Shane Greene, Kenny Oshiro, Chirag Odhav, Sophia Tan, Kwame Nuako, and Singh and Govind Bindra — will travel to compete for Nationals in Atlanta.
Spelling Bee
Congratulations to Eighth Grader Sheffiga Rose, who won the USJ school-wide Spelling Bee and will represent USJ in the Jackson Sun Spelling Bee. Congratulations also to Sixth Grader Aditya Thota, first runner-up, and Eighth Grader Cal Bigford, second runner-up.
Wendy Heisman representatives
Congratulations to Madeline Crocker and Colton Norton for winning the Wendy’s Heisman award for USJ this school year. Colton was also a state finalist.
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