News

Birchwood Makes Its Mark at Regional Power of the Pen Tourney

3/2/2026

Much is expected of the students in the writing program at Cleveland’s Birchwood School of Hawken. The Birchwood seventh and eighth graders – a total of nine writers – didn’t disappoint this past Saturday at the Lake Erie Regional Power of the Pen tournament held at Hudson Middle School. Both Birchwood teams placed in the top five of their grade levels while also scoring runner-up honors in the coveted team Sweepstakes competition.

Birchwood ’22 Grads, Now Hawken Seniors, Are National Merit Scholars

9/29/2025

Four members of the Birchwood graduating class of 2022 and current Hawken seniors have earned recognition from the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Jeremy Rotberg and Yining (Nicholas) Shang were named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists this month, which places them among just one percent of the nation’s high school seniors.

In the next step, NMS Semifinalists vie for more than 6,000 scholarships worth approximately $25 million to be awarded in the coming spring.

Birchwood Students, Alum Earn Top 10 National History Day Honors

6/16/2025

By JOE PARRINO
5th-8th Social Studies
Dean of Teaching & Learning

School may be out but the National History Day national contest results are in! Birchwood has 10 more reasons to cheer. Ten of our students placed in the top 10 in their respective categories. That's competing against the best projects from all 50 states.

Before we get to the Xfinity Center packed with cheering throngs, some more context can help. Twenty-one Birchwood students qualified for the national contest by placing either first or second in their category at the Ohio contest last April. They had several weeks to improve their paper, documentary, website, exhibit, or performance before the national event in College Park, Md., a suburb of the nation's capital and the home to the University of Maryland.

Birchwood Student Reaches Top Four for National Handwriting Honor

3/12/2025

Congratulations to Birchwood School of Hawken second grader April, the Grade 2 Northeast Regional Winner in the 2025 Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Contest!

Congrats are also in order for third grader Tara and fourth grader Mina who were judged best in Birchwood for each of their respective grade levels.

Handwriting is a key to literacy development, and we see it pay off every day at Birchwood School of Hawken. April is one of the top four competitors nationwide for her grade.

For each of seven grade levels – kindergarten through Grade 6 – one winner is chosen in each of four regions in the United States. Those 28 compete to be chosen as the lone Grade-Level Grand National Champion.

Birchwood Power of the Pen Teams Shine at Districts

1/13/2025

Seventh and eighth grade teams from Birchwood School of Hawken competed in the first round of the Power of the Pen tournament season, held Jan. 11, at Fairview High School, and walked away with several awards, including three students who placed individually in their respective grade’s top 12 writers and a top win for the seventh-grade team.

Birchwood wordsmiths were among the 180 writers from 22 schools who embraced the challenge of the Power of the Pen, an intense impromptu writing event. How intense? Students engaged in three back-to-back, 40-minute rounds of writing. That time includes hearing the writing prompt for the first time.

Teamwork Propels Birchwood Students at Young Astronaut Day

11/4/2024

Students from Birchwood School of Hawken turned in a stellar showing together as teams as well as paired off for separate competitions, finishing at or near the top team spots and turning in top three finishes in smaller groups at the 30th Annual Young Astronaut Day held this past Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Cleveland Public Library Main Branch.

Birchwood’s Pilot Team (grades 1-4) made up of members Isabella, Enoch, Juliet, Isla, Eliesha, and Jacob earned a first-place team award in its grade division while Birchwood’s Mission Specialist Team (grades 5-8) made up of Lucy, Nelson, Brian, Rodrigo, and Sofia splashed down in second place in its grade division – both outstanding performances considering that each competing school can send only one team per grade division of up to six members.

Birchwood POP Writers Bring Success to Next Level at Regional

3/11/2024

Birchwood School of Hawken continued building on its earlier tourney success with a strong showing at the Northern Region Power of the Pen interscholastic creative writing competition at Baldwin Wallace University, in Berea, on Saturday, March 9.

Birchwood landed second in the Sweepstakes competition, thanks to a first-place finish by its eighth-grade scribes, their second in as many years. The Sweepstakes honors schools amassing the highest total points between its 7th and 8th grade teams, combining scores at both the district and regional levels.

Birchwood 7th & 8th Graders Scribe Their Way to Success at Power of the Pen Districts

2/27/2024

Birchwood School of Hawken students let their ink do the talking at the Power of the Pen Northern Region District 2 competition as both of their teams earned top-three honors. Birchwood’s eighth-grade team won first overall while the seventh grade placed third overall.

The school also garnered five individual placement honors:

8th grade – Reeve, 5th; Rhea, 6th.
7th grade – Chrysanthi, 3rd; Kritika, 7th; Sofia, 12th.

Around 180 students representing 22 area schools competed at the tournament, held on Saturday, Feb. 17, at St. Raphael Catholic School, in Bay Village.

Each Birchwood team was made up of six members with one or two alternates designated for each team. In all, Birchwood School of Hawken brought 15 students to the tournament.

Pair of Birchwood Students Place in Stone Soup Magazine Contest

1/5/2024

Two Birchwood School of Hawken seventh-graders earned recognition from Stone Soup magazine for December entries in its monthly Flash Fiction writing contest. Chrysanthi Constantinou’s entry earned Winner honors and Andrew Khawam earned Honorable Mention for the same age category.

Birchwood Alums Attending Hawken Match as Questbridge Scholars

12/12/2023

Congratulations to Birchwood Class of '20 alumni and current Hawken Upper School juniors Andres Moreno, Quiwen Wu, and Rebecca Chin. All three matched with a prospective college from the Questbridge Program.

The program provides a full-ride scholarship, including tuition, room and board, and all fees. In addition, there is a mentorship network that supports the students in and out of college.

Birchwood Power of the Pen Team Places Second in Ohio

5/25/2023

Birchwood School of Hawken’s 2023 Power of the Pen (POP) team wrote its way to rewards at the recent State of Ohio tournament, returning with a second-place overall finish as well as a handful more accolades earned by its seventh- and eighth-grade scribes.

Other Birchwood student winners are:

• Individual Award Joshua Gordon, 8th grade 11th Place

• State Platinum Pen Awards

Reeve Vincent, 7th grade, for “War and Blood”

Joshua Gordon, 8th grade, for “Why?” and “So Much More”

* Both are eligible for publication in Power of the Pen’s annual Book of Winners, determined from regional Best of Round.

Birchwood’s student team is coached by language arts specialists Lorraine Tzeng, Jennifer Seward, and Allison Noga.

Joshua Gordon is Named Promising Young Writer

5/2/2023

Joshua Gordon, an eighth grade student at Birchwood School of Hawken received First Class distinction for his writing "Only a Game" and was recognized as a 2023 Promising Young Writer by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

This year, schools nominated 146 students to participate in the Promising Young Writers Program. Of those, 56 were selected to receive the First Class designation, 58 received the Superior designation, 27 received the Excellent designation, and 5 received the Merit designation. Students had to submit original works based on the prompt: Revision as Life: Ourselves, Worlds, and Perceptions Two to three independent judges evaluated each submission holistically on content, purpose, audience, tone, word choice, organization, development, and style.

Twenty-Two Students Win at National History Day State Competition

4/25/2023

On Saturday, April 22, 2023, twenty-two Birchwood students traveled to Ohio Wesleyan University for the state level of the National History Day competition. With over 400 students from 40 different schools, the competition was challenging but the results were outstanding, with 15 Birchwood of Hawken students qualifying for the national level of the competition which will be held the week of June 11, 2023 at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. With national qualifiers in almost every category, the students’ hard work to improve their projects following the regional competition resulted in strong finishes. The first and second place finishers in each category advance to the national competition.

In the Historical Paper category, 8th grader Haadeya placed 2nd. She also received the National Maritime Historical Award for her paper focused on the Erie Canal. In the Individual Documentary category, Birchwood students captured both national qualifying spots. Placing first was 8th grader Joshua G. with his project on the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 and how it tamed the lawless frontier of food and drug production. Seventh grader Joshua T. placed second. His topic was Dr. John Snow, who started the field of epidemiology with his investigation of a cholera outbreak in London, England in the mid-1800s. In the Group Documentary category, 7th graders Arav and Suryan placed second with their project on Enrico Fermi, who created the first nuclear reactor. Receiving an honorable mention were 6th graders Andrew and Brian for their documentary on America’s use of deception to fool the German military in WWII.

Student Reaches Finals of 2023 Bluefire $1,000 with 1,000 Words Contest

4/24/2023

Congratulations to Niko Alicea for making it to the final round in the 2023 Bluefire $1,000 for 1,000 words contest. His story, titled "WWI," is an action-packed piece told from the perspective of a German soldier who encounters a terrifying new invention in warfare: the tank. A member of the editorial committee commended Niko for his writing, stating that "Our judges thought your story was well written and praised it for moving logically from the beginning to the end." Visit, https://bit.ly/43NpE08, to read Niko's story.

Students Soar at Future Problem Solving State Competition

4/19/2023

This year, 19 Birchwood 6th-8th grade students placed at the Future Problem Solving (FPS) State Bowl. Each year students compete either in scenario writing - imagining specific problems and solutions the future may hold – or as teams of four or individuals who apply a six-step model which teaches critical and creative thinking, and problem solving. The following students, coached by Helene Debelak, Rebecca Graham, Diane Owen, Jennifer Seward, Allison Noga, and Lorraine Tzeng, placed at the state level:

Junior Division Scenario Writing

Chrysanthi Constantinou (6th grader of Westlake) - 1st place*

Middle Division Scenario Writing

Ayat Jaffar (8th grader) - 1st place*

Haadeya Salman (8th grader) - 2nd place

Joshua Gordon (8th grader) – 3rd place

Manya Raina (8th grader) - 4th place

Joshua Thomas (7th grade) - 5th place

Junior Individual

Danyaal Khan (6th grader) - 2nd place*

Presentation of Action Plan (skit)

Junior:

Brian Milindi, Zora Asalu, Nelson Kude, Samuel Chen, Jake Zhang - 2nd place

Middle:

Joshua Gordon, Manya Raina, Ted Alten - 1st place

Junior Division Team Awards

6th graders: Kritika Chahar (Brecksville), Chrysanthi Constantinou, Caleb Alicea (Cleveland), Nathan Chilcote (Cleveland) - 1st place*

Middle Division Team Awards

7th graders: Reeve Vincent, Maliha Nadkarni, Kyle Vaziri, Olivia Kude - 4th place

8th graders: Joshua Gordon, Manya Raina, Ted Alten - 2nd place*

Outstanding Achievement: Three Students in the Top 1% Nationwide

4/18/2023

Arav Bhandari, Joshua Gordon, and Manya Raina have achieved a perfect score in this year's Continental Mathematics Competition, earning them the title of National Student Winners and placing them among the top 1% of students in the country. To attain this feat, the students had to complete five 30-minute tests over the course of the school year.

Melisa Stalnaker, a math teacher for Birchwood's 5th-8th grade students, commended the students for their exemplary performance, stating that they had set a remarkable example for their peers. She added that the students' commitment to learning, dedication to practice, and perseverance in preparation had resulted in this commendable accomplishment. Stalnaker expressed great pride in the students' achievement, noting that it was remarkable to have three students receive perfect scores.

Second Grade Student Wins Entrepreneur Challenge

4/18/2023

Juliet Lu, a second grader at Birchwood School of Hawken, has been selected to be featured in the Finalist Showcase for the NEO Young Entrepreneur Pitch Challenge sponsored by Young Entrepreneur Institute. Young Entrepreneur Pitch Challenge is a contest for students in Northeast Ohio in grades K-12. It is a simple set of activities that helps kids learn creativity, problem solving, critical thinking, and presentation skills.

For this challenge, Juliet had to devise a solution to a problem and then develop a pitch for that solution. Juliet's idea was to create the "Squirt Saver'', a device that would help people use less product from pump bottles, such as shampoo, conditioner, and soap.

Student Wins National Scholastic Writing Award

4/17/2023

8th grader, Joshua Gordon, won a National Gold Medal in the Scholastic Art and Writing Competition for his flash fiction story "For Civilization." His work was one of 300,000 submissions by more than 100,000 students in the middle and high school art and writing competition, which places his story in the top 1 percent in the country. His story will be published in Scholastic's online gallery.

His original creation is set in Colorado in 1864. This historical fiction piece is told from the perspective of a private in the cavalry that would carry out the Sand Creek Massacre of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians. In one brutal moment, the character evolves from faithful conviction in his mission to one of awakened horror and resolve. Click here to read the full story.

Jennifer Seward, one of Birchwood's language arts teachers, spoke of this outstanding accomplishment in this way, Joshua's talent as a young writer is formidable, and his grasp of the writing process is astoundingly mature. He fearlessly confronts the challenges of conceiving a worthy storyline, writing with precision, and revising without mercy. In this piece, Joshua's knowledge of history, storytelling prowess, and skill with language coalesce, which is no accident. He relentlessly practices his craft to improve.

Birchwood Students Flex Brain Muscles At Northeast Ohio Science and Engineering Fair

4/12/2023

Birchwood School of Hawken’s seventh and eighth graders brought home several top three trophies as well as a variety of special awards while competing at the 70th annual Northeast Ohio Science and Engineering Fair (NEOSEF), held March 13-16, at Cleveland State University.

Birchwood’s eighth graders earned a trio of second-place finishes, as well as a pair of third-place and honorable mention placements. The school’s seventh-graders delivered first-place and third-place rankings, along with an honorable mention.

Results and special awards earned by the Birchwood School of Hawken students are:

Seventh Graders

Leen Salem – 1st Place: “The Amount of Electrolytes in Advertised Energy Drinks.”

Joshua Thomas – 3rd Place: “Which Form of Fruit Causes the Least Spike in Blood Sugar?”

Reeve Vincent – Honorable Mention: “Which Pain Reliever has the Fastest Dissolution Time: Brand or Generic?”

Beautiful Penmanship is Alive

4/11/2023

Birchwood School of Hawken student Mina G. (2nd grade) earned the honor of representing her grade level in the Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Contest. As a State Grade-Level Winner, Mina’s manuscript submission can be chosen as one of the 18 National Grade-Level Semifinalists. Gountas won a medal and a journal for this achievement.

The Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Contest annually rewards outstanding manuscript and cursive skills of Kindergarten through eighth-grade students and teachers who understand the importance of handwriting for developing literacy. Almost 80,000 students have put pencil to paper this year to participate in the most prestigious handwriting contest in the United States.

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