News

Birchwood Students Win Top Honors for Latin

5/10/2021

This March Birchwood Latin students took the National Latin Exam along with students across the United States and around the world. Many earned gold and silver medals and Omar Elbadawy (7th grade) earned a coveted “Perfect Paper” award, just the second in the school’s history.

Gold medal and a summa cum laude certificate:
Angela D'Souza (7th grade)
Omar Elbadawy (7th grade)
Jordan Gordon (7th grade)

Silver medal and maxima cum laude certificate:
Arsheya Ahuja (7th grade)
Cadence Guo (8th grade)
Aanya Lakireddy (7th grade)
Siya Lakireddy (7th grade)
Areesha Nouman (7th grade)
Michael Zhu (7th grade)

Cum laude certificate:
Su-Kyi Ng (7th grade)

Record Number of Birchwood Students Headed to National History Day

5/3/2021

On April 26, the results from the state level of the National History Day competition were announced. Sixteen students and their nine projects will advance to the national level of the competition in June, the largest number of Birchwood students ever to advance to the national level as a result of their first and second place wins.

Record Number of Birchwood Students Headed to State Science Day

5/3/2021

On April 19^th, the results of District Science Day were announced, with a record number of Birchwood students heading to State Science Day in May.

Superior Rating and State Science Day Qualifiers

Ayat Jaffar (6^th grade) for “Can a Microbial Fuel Cell be Used to Create Electricity from Soil?”

Omar Elbadawy (7^th grade) for “Bioplastic: An Investigation of the Relationship between Bioplastic Composition, Tensile Strength, and Flexibility”

Aanya Lakireddy (7^th grade) for “Filtering Micro Plastics Using Micron Nylon Filter”

Siya Lakireddy (7^th grade) for “Filtering Turbidity in Water Using Coagulation-Flocculation”

Adharsh Narendrakumar (7^th grade) for “The Social Distancing Sensor”

Michael Zhu (7^th grade) for “Ethanol vs. Gasoline: Which Fuel is More Environmentally Friendly?”

Albert Khawam (8^th grade) for “Which Material Can Insulate a Glass Bottle the Best?”

Birchwood Ranks Number One in the Region in Ohio Mathematics League Competition

4/20/2021

Birchwood School’s sixth, seventh, and eighth-graders participated in the Ohio Mathematics League contest, which offers middle school students the opportunity to compete against each other to solve challenging word problems in thirty minutes. The contest requires a broad understanding of mathematical concepts and math fluency. Birchwood’s students practiced throughout the year and were rewarded when the results came in. This year approximately 80 schools from across the state of Ohio participated.

The sixth-grade team placed 5^th in the state and 1^st in the region (Cuyahoga and Summit counties).

The seventh-grade team placed 2^nd in the state and 1^st in the region.

The eighth-grade team placed 5^th in the state and 3^rd in the region.

Individually, Birchwood students also ranked high.

Future Problem Solvers Head to State Bowl

4/13/2021

Six teams and two individual students from Birchwood School have qualified to compete at the State Bowl of International Future Problem Solving. Though it is being held virtually again this year, these students engaged in a rigorous process of research and an in-depth, six-step problem solving process. Their final written work was evaluated by a panel of judges and the best were invited to compete at the State Bowl. The massive problems these students are tackling in this year’s competition are youth in competitive sports, wearable technology, human environmental impact, and personalized medicine.

Young Mathematics Champions Recognized Nationally

4/13/2021

Over the past five months, Birchwood students competed in a series of 30-minute math tests sponsored by the Continental Mathematics League. The second, third, and fourth grade teams earned national recognition for their outstanding work.

The second-grade team won 4^th place nationally (out of 85 schools) and team member Anne Fei (of Westlake) achieved a perfect cumulative score—one of only 14 students second graders in the country.

The third-grade team placed 32^nd nationally (out of 148 schools) and John Gordon (of Bay Village) earned a perfect cumulative score—one of only 25 students nationally in his grade level.

The fourth-grade team placed 27^th nationally out of 110 schools.

All three teams placed first in Ohio and second in the Midwest region that includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio.

Twenty-seven Students Headed to State History Day Competition

4/3/2021

On Saturday, March 27, Birchwood students competed in the regional level of National History Day. After months of research and perfecting their papers, performances, projects and presentations, students submitted their work to a panel of judges to be evaluated on the historical quality of their research and presentation and its connection to the theme of Communication in History. The heavily decorated contingent of 27 students and 16 projects move on to the state competition which will be held virtually on April 24, 2021.

Birchwood Named Regional Champion at Power of the Pen

4/1/2021

The regional Power of the Pen competition was held virtually this year but was no less a challenge to the students who performed their best creative writing; and no less an honor to those recognized for their excellent performance.

The regional competition included 21 schools with 63 7th grade and 65 8th grade writers. Birchwood School claimed the Sweepstakes Trophy for the best combined scores from the district and regional competitions. Additionally, the 8th grade team took 1st place and the 7th grade team took 3rd place.

Birchwood Students Win Big at Prestigious Science Fair

4/1/2021

This year’s 67th annual Northeastern Ohio Science and Engineering Fair was virtual but lacked nothing in terms of ingenuity from the students who participated. Nearly 700 projects from over 80 schools were submitted in competition for over $20,000 in prizes. Birchwood School’s 7th and 8th graders’ projects garnered much attention from the over 260 judges representing the most prestigious science organizations of the region.

Student Wins Scholastic National Gold Medal Award

3/24/2021

Birchwood School 7^th grader, Isabella Bixler, was awarded a Gold Key at the national level of Scholastics Art & Writing Awards for her written work called, “Home.” Despite the challenges of the pandemic, more than 80,000 students across the country participated in the 2021 awards with nearly 230,000 entries. Isabella’s story was among only six national gold medalists in our greater Cleveland region.

History Teacher Acquires the Tools to Help Students Dig Deep

3/9/2021

Mr. Joseph Parrino, a teacher at Birchwood School of Hawken, is one of 120 teachers around the world selected for a National History Day (NHD) professional development program. The course focuses on using online Library of Congress resources to develop and support historical arguments.

National History Day Executive Director, Dr. Cathy Gorn, describes the honor saying, “The skills and strategies Mr. Parrino is developing through this series will benefit his students over the course of their academic and professional careers. As a Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Consortium member, NHD is incredibly fortunate to be able to offer this opportunity for teachers, especially now as teachers and students continue to address challenges of non-traditional learning settings required by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”

Students Advance to State MathCounts Tournament

3/8/2021

Five Birchwood students competed among the 21 Northeast Ohio finalists in the MathCounts chapter round finals. Three qualified for the state tournament. Their coach, Mr. Charles Debelak said, “I wish everyone could go on to state, but this is the nature of a competition against the best math students in Northeast Ohio. I am proud of all their efforts during this trying period of the pandemic."

Students Raise Record-Breaking Harvest for Hunger Funds

3/8/2021

Birchwood School of Hawken students have been raising food and money donations for Harvest for Hunger every year since 2006. This year’s goal was $2,500 but they raised over $7,000, breaking all their previous records.

Each year the third and fourth grade students are led through the creative problem solving process with their teachers Jessica Moore and Todd Boyer to see what they can do to help Cleveland families. The students learn about the 1 in 6 Ohioans struggling to put food on their table and plan out a strategy to help.

Birchwood Students Advance to MathCounts Chapter Round

2/24/2021

Birchwood students competed to advance to the chapter rounds of the MathCounts. The competition was fierce with 2,500 students participating in this round. Their coach, Mr. Charles Debelak said, “I wish everyone could go on to state, but this is the nature of a competition against the best math students in Northeast Ohio. I am proud of all their efforts during this trying period of the pandemic." The following students will represent Birchwood School of Hawken at this virtual event:

Jordan Gordon ranked 6^th

Joshua Gordon ranked 8^th

Jacob Gao ranked 9^th

Michael Zhu ranked 13^th

Ben Miyares ranked 17^th

Creative Writing Advances Birchwood Teams to the Next Level

2/22/2021

On February 6^th, Birchwood’s seventh and eighth grade teams competed at the district level Power of the Pen creative writing tournament taking top honors. The seventh grade team placed second and the eighth grade team placed first. Both teams advance to the regional competition.

Individually, Isabelle Bixler won 4^th place overall, and also a “best of round” award. Areesha Nouman won “Best of Round” in two out of the three rounds.

Coaches Charles Debelak, Lorraine Tzeng, Jennifer Seward, and Maysan Haydar congratulate their teams who will go on to compete in the regional tournament on March 13^th hosted by Baldwin-Wallace University:

National Math Competition Honors Birchwood School of Hawken Students

2/1/2021

Birchwood School of Hawken students competed in the American Mathematics Competition 8 (AMC 8) and three finished among the top 5% of all math students in the United States. Two others were also recognized for their exceptional scores.

Angela D’Souza (7^th grade) finished third place in her section.

Jacob Gao (6^th grade) finished first place in his section, scored in the top 5% nationally, and earned the certificate of achievement for those in 6^th grade and under scoring over 15.

Jordan Gordon (7^th grade) finished first place in his section and scored in the top 5% nationally.

Joshua Gordon (6^th grade) finished second place in his section and earned the certificate of achievement for those in 6^th grade and under scoring over 15.

Ben Miyares (7^th grade) finished first place in his section and scored in the top 5% nationally.

Thirty-Eight Students Shine on Math Olympiad Test

2/1/2021

After the third of five Math Olympiad tests, Birchwood students have earned their medals, with three holding a perfect score thus far:

Gold

Jacob Gao (6^th grade) perfect score!

Jordan Gordon (7^th grade) perfect score!

Joshua Gordon (6^th grade)

Shivam Mahajan (5^th grade)

Julia McClenin (5^th grade)

Manya Raina (6^th grade)

Haadeya Salman (6^th grade)

Jonathan Samulak (6^th grade)

Nikhil Yalavarthy (5^th grade)

Michael Zhu (7^th grade) perfect score!

Continental Mathematics League Recognizes Local Birchwood Mathematicians

1/26/2021

Continental Mathematics League holds five meets per year that students can participate in from school or home. Students are given 30 minutes to answer six questions aimed at furthering students’ progress in the art of problem solving.

After the third test was completed this week, local Birchwood School students achieved the highest honors. Many maintain a perfect score through all three tests.

Scholastics Awards Birchwood School of Hawken Writers

1/11/2021

The nation’s longest-running, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens has awarded local teens their highest honors. Each year Scholastic Art and Writing Awards accepts entries from seventh through twelfth-grade students in 28 categories. They are then blindly adjudicated by some of the foremost leaders in the visual and literary arts for originality, technical skill, and authentic and unique point of view.

Local Birchwood School students received the highest honors for their writing.

Birchwood’s Math Students Rank in the Top 10%

12/16/2020

This fall second through fourth grade students nationwide competed online in the semiannual, problem-solving, Noetic Learning Math Contest. Birchwood School’s second grade team was among the top 10% of teams in that grade, earning the Team Achievement Award. Individual students in both second and third grade earned the National Honor Roll award for being in the 10% of all participants in their grade.

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