Student Winners for the 2017 Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards
Listed below are the students and the awards they won in the 2017 Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards Competition. Students who won a Gold Key are now eligible for national recognition.
Listed below are the students and the awards they won in the 2017 Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards Competition. Students who won a Gold Key are now eligible for national recognition.
On Wednesday, February 22nd, the Chess Team competed in the Shore High School Chess League Championship Tournament at Monmouth Mall. The team –consisting of Christopher Wu, Kevin Yan, Philip Meltzer, Kevin Lu and Jason Yan– dismantled St Joseph HS in the first round by a score of 4.5 to 0..5
In the second round, High Tech was paired against Rumson Fair Haven. RFH was undefeated during the regular season, but High Tech dissected them on their way to a 5-0 shutout.
So, for the 8th consecutive year, High Tech had made it into the Shore HS Chess League Championship Match!! High Tech was pitted against arch-rival CBA, who upset the defending champion Princeton HS in round 2.
Chris Wu had the team focused and well prepared. He led the way by earning the first win of the championship match. Kevin Yan and Kevin Lu would soon follow with victories that would guarantee a win for High Tech. Philip Meltzer and Jason Yan wrapped things up with 2 more wins. High Tech pulled off a devastating shutout to claim the league title and become the Shore HS Chess League Champions for 2017!!!
Each varsity player was undefeated and earned an individual board award for their performance during the tournament. High Tech won an amazing 14.5 points out of 15 possible points.
In the Extra Player Tournament with 62 participants, Allen Zhang, Andrew Mascillaro and Aryan Shah represented High Tech. Each player finished in the top 10. Aryan earned 10th place. Andrew earned 4th place and Allen finish in 2nd place.
WAY TO GO High Tech!!!
On Saturday, January 14, the Academic Team sent 2 teams to New Jersey State History Bee & Bowl Championship tournament at Ridgewood HS.
With 36 teams competing in the varsity division, the High Tech varsity team [Samuel Kao, Douglas Simons, Karl Roush, and Darren Petrosino] was undefeated until the Championship match, losing to Hunter College HS of New York City. Hunter won the NJ State History Bowl Championship plaque, and High Tech won the 2nd place plaque, but was the top New Jersey varsity team. Similarly, in the JV division, with 31 teams competing, the High Tech JV Team [Adrian Thamburaj, Steven Liu, Eric Zheng, Cole Snedeker, Karen Li, and Selena Liu] was undefeated until matched against the Hunter College HS JV in the semi-finals playoff match. Hunter College HS won the JV Bowl Championship plaque and High Tech won the semi-finals plaque.
In the History Bee competition, the outcome was the same. In the Varsity Bee Championship match, Luke Tierney of Hunter College HS of New York City won the first place 'gold' medal while High Tech's Douglas Simons won the second place 'silver medal. Samuel Kao was fourth in the Bee, missing by 1 point for 3rd place. In the JV Bee Championship match, Daniel Ma of Hunter College HS won the first place 'gold' metal while Darren Petrosino of High Tech won the second place 'silver' metal. Steven Liu and Eric Zheng were Finalists in the JV Bee, and Adrian Thamburaj, Karen Li, and Cole Snedeker were Semi-Finalists in the JV Bee.
In the Geography contest, Steven Liu to 3rd place in the JV division.
In summary, Hunter College HS of New York to the top awards and High Tech to finish in second place, as the top New Jersey team.
Congratulations to Christopher Wu, Philip “Mr. HTHS” Meltzer, and Jared Braycewski for earning the title of 12th Grade State Champions as a result of their team win in the 12th grade bracket of the NJ GRADE SCHOOL CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS held at Brookdale last Sunday. Christopher won all 5 of his games. Philip had 4 wins and Jared had 3 wins and 1 draw.
Additionally, HTHS had two other groups of students that earned team awards. In 11th grade, Kevin Lu, Aryan Shah, Kevin Yan and Allen Zhang combined to earn the 3rd Place team award for Grade 11. In 10th grade, Eric Chai, Nelson Lin and Andrew Mascillaro combined to earn 3rd Place for Grade 10.
Several players earned individual awards also. In the 9th grade bracket, Jason Yan had 3 wins and earned the 8th Place trophy for 9th grade. In the 10th grade bracket, Eric had 3 wins to earn the 7th Place trophy and Andrew had 2 wins and 2 draws to earn the 10th Place trophy. In the 11th grade bracket, Kevin Yan had 2 wins and 2 draws to earn the 8th Place trophy while Kevin Lu had 3 wins to earn the 9th Place trophy. In the 12th grade bracket, the 3 seniors earned a sweep of the top 3 individual awards. Jared won 3rd Place, Philip won 2nd Place and Chris Wu is the 12th grade State Champion!!
Junior Rita Vought and her sister, sophomore Vickie Vought, both made all-state honors for the role they played in another successful year for the Holmdel Girls Tennis Team. The team finished second in the state falling to Millburn 3-2 in the Tournament of Champions final.
Rita made All-State Flighted First Team.
Vickie made All-State Second Team. Vickie was also named to the All-Group 2 First team.
On Saturday, November 12, the Academic Team sent 3 teams to the Northern Jersey History Bee and Bowl at Seton Hall University. The Championship Varsity Bowl match between two undefeated bowl teams, High Tech and its arch rival Hunter College High School, was a cliff hanger. At the end of first quarter, High Tech trailed by 40 points, and at the end of second quarter, High Tech trailed by 20 points. In the third quarter "lightening' round", High Tech answered all 8 questions correctly in less than a minute and earned a bonus of 20 points, in addition to 10 points for each question. After the third round, High Tech had a small lead of 20 points. The championship was eventually decided by the very last question, won by High Tech. This championship qualifies the team to go the National History Bee and Bowl in Washington DC in April.
In the separate individual Varsity History Bee competition, Samuel Kao achieved a tied with Hunter's Luke Tierney for first place on the last question in the 20-quesiton Championship match, but lose the tie-breaker in overtime to get the 'Silver Medal.' Douglas Simons was also a Varsity Bee finalist. In the JV History Bee Championship, Steven Liu was awarded the second place 'Silver Medal.' Adrian Thamburaj and Eric Zheng were also JV Bee finalists.
In the separate JV Geography Olympiad Exam, Steven Liu finished in 3rd place and Allen Lu finished in 5th place, both qualifying for the 'National' competition in Washington DC, in April.
On Sunday, November 6, High Technology High School's two VEX teams, composed of seven students each, traveled to Rowan University to compete in their first VRC tournament of the year. There were a total of 36 teams in the tournament.
Both teams qualified for the final round and each were presented awards (see below):
Asbury Park 41, Dunellen 12 (Via Shore Sports Network)
Senior running back Paul Reed exploded for 212 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries as the Blue Bishops (4-2) rolled up 358 yards on the ground on their way to a lopsided victory over the Destroyers (0-6).
Reed had a 60-yard touchdown run and a 5-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Cishuine Simmons, Namir Agrilagos, and Ja’King Agostini added touchdown runs and Dyquan Young caught a touchdown pass from Agostini. Agrilagos’ scoring run was a 58-yard scamper in the third quarter.
Simmons made a team-high 12 tackles on defense and also recorded a sack. Agrilagos had 10 tackles and Calvin Simmons-Carter had 11 tackles and a forced fumble.
High Technology High School students Julienne Chaqour and Anjali Chakradhar are among more than 400 semi-finalists named across the United States in this year’s prestigious Siemens Competition, the nation’s premier competition in math, science and technology for high school students. Julienne Chaqour and Anjali Chakradhar were selected from more than 1600 students who submitted innovative individual and team research projects.
“These semi-finalists should be extremely proud of this high-level academic accomplishment,” said David Etzwiler, CEO of the Siemens Foundation. “Their projects represent some of the most noteworthy and exceptional of those submitted and reflected an advanced level of STEM research.”
Judging is now taking place to determine who, from this elite group, will now go on to compete in the 6 regional finals, taking place in November. Individual and team winners from the regional competitions advance to the final phase of the contest which takes place in December in Washington, DC where they will compete for top prizes of up to $100,000 in scholarships.
About the Siemens Competition
Launched by the Siemens Foundation in 1999, the Siemens Competition promotes excellence in math, science, and technology and is recognized by colleges and universities as the premier math and science research competition in the United States. More than $600,000 in college scholarships are awarded to students annually through the Siemens Competition during regional and national events administered by Discovery Education. The Siemens Competition honors the best and brightest students for their accomplishments in math and science – students who are changing the world for the better. (For more information about the Siemens Competition click here )
The Premier STEM event for 5th and 6th-grade girls. Last year over 175 girls attended the first annual Snacks with Scientists program. Register early as we expect the event to fill up fast. Click here to register.
On Saturday, Sept 24, the High Tech Academic Team sent to Princeton University to compete in their annual High School Academic Tournament.
The A Team composed of Samuel Kao, Anjali Nambrath, Douglas Simons, and Steven Liu, finished in second place in the 'competitive' division, among 20 teams from Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, and New Jersey.
The B Team composed of Adrian Thamburaj, Micheal Li, Kevin Lu, Darren Petrosino, Eric Zheng, Nelson Lin, finished in first place in the 'standard' division, among 16 teams from 5 states.
Congratulations to all the students who competed.
2016 TSA National Conference Results HTHS by the Numbers
7 Trophies
10 Finalists
22 Events
2 First Place
4 Second Place
1 Third Place
43 Student Attendees
26 out of 43 are Finalists / Award Winners
4 out of 43 are Multiple event Finalists / Award Winners
1 out of 43 was a 3 time event Finalist/ Award Winner
60% are Finalists / Award Winners
LIST OF AWARD WINNERS
Senior Scholarship Award
Priscilla Wong
VEX Robotics Competition Excellence Award 1st Place
Anjali Nambrath, Arvind Yalvarti, Matthew Ramina, Raymond Tse, Alexander Yao
Software Development 1st Place
Aneesh Agrawal, Tim Vallencourt, Elijah Smith, Sarah Vicol, Jacob Yatvitsky and Qwen Zhang
Prepared Presentation 2nd Place
Aparna Ragupathi
TEAMS 11/1 Prepared Presentation Competition 2nd Place
Brandon May, Jarrett Liang, Brian Tao, Andrew Huang, Tiffany Zhao and Kathryn Jiang
TEAMS 11/12 Level Best in Nation 2nd Place
Brandon May, Jarrett Liang, Brian Tao, Andrew Huang, Tiffany Zhao and Kathryn Jiang
Technology Bowl, Oral (HS) 2nd Place
Eric He, Anjali Nambrath and Kunaal Chaudhari
TEAMS 11/12 Level Written Competition 3rd Place
Brandon May, Jarrett Liang, Brian Tao, Andrew Huang, Tiffany Zhao and Kathryn Jiang
DEBATING TECHNOLOGICAL ISSUES 9th Place
Anjali Nambrath and Tim Vallancourt
Chapter Team Presentation 10th Place
Andrew Huang, Anjali Chakradhar, Brandon May, Matt Kumar, Priscilla Wong, Tiffany Zhao
Technology Bowl, Written (HS) 10th Place
Kunaal Chaudhari
Click on Image to Enlarge it.
Photos courtesy of Mr. Tao and Mr. Zeng.
Click on the image to enlarge it.
The video above is of a recent talk Eileen Huang gave at TEDxNavesink.
Sophomore Douglas Simons, the 2016 National JV History Bee Champion, won a huge Championship Cup [below] and an all expense paid [7 days, hotel, air fare, meals, and registration fee] trip to Honolulu, Hawaii to compete in the International History Olympiad [July 17 to 24, 2016]. The JV Division was composed of 181 students in the tenth grade and below.
The JV Championship Bee match was quite exciting. The final match is composed of 35 questions, with 3 to 6 points awarded for the correct answer, more points for the quicker response, minus 2 points for interrupting with an incorrect answer and minus 1 point for an incorrect answer after the question is completely read.
In past competitions, Douglas usually starts 'slow.' But after the first 10 questions, we were a bit nervous, with Douglas having a score of -5 points, and the other two students tied with +10 points each. After 20 questions, Douglas finally moved into positive territory with a +10 score, Rohan had +15 and Muzaffer had +19. After 25 questions, Douglas took the lead, with 25 points, Rohan had 22 points and Muzaffer had 19 points. After 30 questions, Douglas had a commanding lead with 37 points, Rohan had 21 points and Muzaffer had 15 points. At the completion of the match, Douglas finished with 43 points, compared to 25 points for Rohan and 19 points for Muzaffer.
Also competing in the Varsity Bowl division was our B Team composed of: Gaurav Sharma [junior], Karl Roush [junior], Jarrett Liang [senior], and Sean Kearns [senior]. Competing in the JV Bee & Bowl divisions was our JV Team composed of 5 freshmen: Steven Liu, Nelson Lin, Darren Petrosino, Adrian Thamburaj, and Eric Zheng. Kathryn Jiang [senior] was an official tournament Reader.
And special thanks to the PFA Student Enrichment Committee for their financial support and the traveling parents for providing transportation and wonderful encouragement.
Some members of the NJ State Champion Chess Team from HTHS recently competed in the National HS Chess Championship Tournament in Atlanta, Georgia. The players that played in the Championship Bracket managed to earn a tie for 9th even though they were missing two very strong players. The second team captured 8th place in the U1200 Bracket. Representing HTHS and pictured below are: Greg Wall, Andrew Mascillaro, Allen Zhang, Charles Jiang, Jared Braycewski, Christopher Wu, Philip Meltzer and Samantha Cheng.