Math Awards

Awards in Mathematics

Math Olympiads: Math Olympiads is a yearlong series of five contests that provides students training in creative problem solving skills in mathematics. Created in 1977 by Dr. George Lenchner, an internationally known math educator, the Math Olympiads went public in 1979. Last year 150,000 students from 5,000 teams worldwide participated in this competition. All 50 states and 25 other countries were represented.

Both the Junior Team and Senior Team from Birchwood School earnest the distinction of “Highest Team Award”, which was awarded to the top 10% of all teams.

The Junior Team consisted of:

Jocelyn L, Grant F, Nathan C, Shawki A, Munim, Trevor L, Dhweeja D, Deepak K, Clare P, Zaeem M, Hannah Y, Sanjana R, Evan F, and Christine B.

The Senior Team consisted of:

George B, Anirudh D, Shulamite C, Jacques D, Sahar A, Stuart F, Isaac Y, Jacob B, Jacob D, and Chris H.

Individual Awards:

Gold Award (top 2% of all participants): Middle school - George B, Shulamite C, Anirudh D, Isaac Y. Elementary school – Tevor L, Nathan C, Shawki A, Grant F, Jocelyn L, Dhweeja D, and Munim.

Silver Award (top 10% of all participants): Middle school – Jacques D, Stuart F, Jacob D, Sahar A, Jacob B. Elementary school – Evan F, Christine B, Sanjana R, Hannah Y, Zaeem M, Clare P, Deepak K, Hassan S, Kavya R, Naomi W, Susmita R, Hajira A, Nathan W, Alexander I, Marla B.

Continental Mathematics League: This is a yearlong series of five contests designed for grades 2-8 that teach students how to apply basic math skills to complex logic and reasoning problems.

Grade level achievements:

Eighth grade: 1^st place in Midwest region (four states)

1^st place in Ohio

Seventh grade: 3^rd place in Midwest region

2^nd place in Ohio

Sixth grade: 2^nd place in region

1^st place in Ohio

Fifth grade: 4^th place in Ohio

Fourth grade: 2^nd place in region

1^st place in Ohio

Individual achievements:

National leaders: Perfect scores for the year

George B

Anirudh D

Dhweeja D

Naomi W

Regional leaders: 29/30 correct for the year

Jacob B

Isaac Y

MathCounts: Math Counts is a national math enrichment, coaching & competition program that promotes middle school mathematics achievement in every U.S. state & territory. Schools select students to compete individually or as part of a team in one of the more than 500 written & oral competitions held nationwide. Top students advance to the state, & ultimately, national level

Team: George B, Shulamite C, Anirudh D, Jacques D

Individuals: Nathan C, Munim, Isaac Y, Jacob B

Chapter competition:

Team: Third Place

Individual: George B, third place

Anirudh D, first place

Nathan C, eighth place

State competition:

Team: Thirty fourth place

Individual: George B, 5th place

Anirudh D, 24^{th st} place

American Mathematics Competition 8: The AMC 8 is a 25 question, 40 minute multiple choice examinations in junior high school (middle school) mathematics designed to promote the development and enhancement of problem solving skills. Many problems are designed to challenge students and to offer problem solving experiences beyond those provided in most junior high school mathematics classes.

School Team – U.S. School Honor Roll – top 1% of all schools

Individual: U.S. Distinguished Honor Roll – top 1% of all students

George B Anirudh D

First place in Ohio : George B

Special Awards from the Mathematical Association of America:

George B and Anirudh D earned special distinction for their math scores on the AMC 10 and AMC 12 math contests (both contests are for high school students). These scores qualified these two young men to take the prestigious American Invitational Mathematics Examination give to only the top high school math students in the country.

St. Edward’s High School Math Contest: This is a mathematics problem solving competition for middle school teams and individuals.

Team competition:

Seventh grade team - Second place

Eighth grade team - Second place

Individual competition:

Seventh grade: Deepak K – Third place

Eighth grade: Anirudh D – Second place

National History Day Competition

The following are results of this year's National History Day competition:

On Saturday, April 26, thirteen Birchwood students traveled to Columbus, Ohio for the state level of the National History Day (NHD) competition. NHD is an educational program devoted to improving the teaching and learning of history in schools. Beginning in the fall, students choose a topic related to an annual theme, which this year was Conflict and Compromise, and then conduct extensive primary and secondary research. After analyzing and interpreting their sources and drawing conclusions about their topics' significance in history, students present their work in original papers, exhibits, performances, web sites and documentaries. In March, all the 7th and 8th graders, along with one 6th grader, participated in the district level of the competition. Based on the outcome of that competition, thirteen students advanced to the next level held in Columbus.

In the individual documentary category, Ani D was a national finalist for his documentary on Japanese internment in WWII. For the third year in a row, Ani also received an award from the Society of Ohio Archivists for his excellent research and use of archival material. Oliver D was also a national finalist for his paper on the Berlin Airlift. Both of these students will travel to the University of Maryland in June to compete at the national level against qualifiers from across the country. Receiving an honorable mention award were Sahar A and Shulamite C for their group performance on the Red Scares of the 20th century, and Caitlin S and Lina W for their performance on the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. Also receiving an honorable mention were Serena C and Jocelyn L for their group documentary on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. In the individual exhibit category, Sarah L received an honorable mention for her board on the bombing of Coventry, England in WWII. Also competing at the state level were Jacques D with a web site on George Crile, Lulu S with an exhibit on the Boston Tea Party, and Riza M and Ilona K with a group performance on the Women's Christian Temperance Union.

Congratulations to all these students and good luck to Ani and Oliver at the National competition in June!

* As an interesting note, two Birchwood alumni, Hannah Miller and Timothy Miller, competed in the senior level in the group performance category. They also were national finalists and will compete at the University of Maryland in June. Their topic focused on the US response to the Armenian massacres in Turkey during WWI.

Earth Day Contest Winner

Earth Day Contest results

Hajira A in the fourth grade, was chosen as a winner of the Earth Day Coalition 2008 Art, Poetry and Essay Contest. Students were asked to share their thoughts and feelings on “Climate Change Solutions” through drawings, paintings, photography, essays, or poetry. Hajira chose to write a poem, and thought of a unique title, Recyclution. The contest was open to all students grades K-12 in Cuyahoga, Ashtabula , Lake, Geauga, Lorain , Medina , Summit , and Portage counties. This year there were 35 winners, and they were recognized and awarded at Earthfest 2008 at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Each winner was awarded a $50 cash prize and also the Hope and Stanley Adelstein Award for Excellence, presented by Mayor Frank Jackson. Hajira was the only winner from Birchwood School . Winning entries were displayed at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Education Auditorium for thousands of visitors to see. Hajira’s poem will also be displayed across Cuyahoga Libraries for community viewing later this year.