Kilmer Students SWEEP Optimist Club Oratorical Contest

At the Optimist Club of Greater Vienna Oratorical contest held last evening, Wednesday, March 20, one boy and one girl from each of the local middle schools (Luther Jackson MS, Thoreau MS, and Kilmer MS) competed, speaking on the 2013 topic, "Why My Voice is Important."

Our Kilmer orators, Thomas Mecherikunnel and Maggie McAden, took first place medals for both the boys and the girls. Congratulations and best of luck to Thomas and Maggie as they move forward to the Zone 4 competition on April 20, and we commend coaches Barbara Appling, Kilmer Creative Writing teacher, and Ellie Altman, Kilmer Librarian, for their work helping prepare all of Kilmer's orators this year!

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Former Kilmer Students Find Science Fair Success

Five Kilmer students performed exceptionally well at the 58th annual Fairfax County Regional Science and Engineering Fair held at Robinson Secondary School on Friday, March 15 through Sunday, March 17. The fair is comprised of winning science and engineering projects from high school students representing public and private schools in Fairfax County, VA.

Kilmer alum earning grand prizes include:

• Supraja Chittari of Marshall High School in Biochemistry, “Effect of Turmeric on Memory Curves of Planarians.”
• Aaron Aguhob of Marshall High School in Engineering: Electrical and Mechanical, “Effect of Fractal Antenna Design: FM Transmission.”
• Jason Cui of Langley High School in Medicine and Health Sciences, “MicroRNA Biomarkers for Anti-Tumor Response.
• John Han of Madison High School and Jake Cui of TJHSST in Medicine and Health Sciences, “Improving Alternative Cancer Treatment.” 

The full list of winners can be found on the science fair web site.

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Kilmer Student Team is a 2013 Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Regional Winner

Pallavi Bhave and Joyce Tian were the Region 2 winning team for grades 7-9 in the 2013 Toshiba/National Science Teachers Association ExploraVision science competition. Their project was titled Food Allergen Detector and is explained as follows:

"The Food Allergen Detector will use Raman spectroscopy, a method in which a UV laser beam is focused on a food sample and the scattered light is detected. A small amount of the scattered light will change in frequency. The plot of the intensity of the "shifted light" versus the frequency is the unique Raman spectrum of the sample. The FAD will use a database of such Raman spectrums to identify and provide information on the presence or absence of common allergens in the sample."

Pallavi and Joyce were coached by Kilmer Science Teacher Susan Bates and mentored by Ashwin Bhave. The girls will go up against the winners from the other five regions for the national title. Congratulations on a rock star regional finish and best of luck to the team as they move forward!

Read the WTOP news story on this Kilmer team!

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Hayun Chong, Kilmer 8th Grader Wins Scholastic National Gold Medal for Art

Hayun Chong, an 8th grade student at Kilmer Middle School, has just been honored with the Scholastic National Gold Medal for Art in the painting category for her work titled "The Art Room." The Gold Medal is awarded for "the most outstanding works in the nation." Hayun and other winners will be honored at the National Ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City from May 30-June 1.

We could not be more proud of Hayun for this amazing accomplishment and commend Kilmer Art Teacher Charles Raubacher for supporting her on this journey.

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"About the Awards

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have an impressive legacy dating back to 1923 and a noteworthy roster of past winners including Andy Warhol, Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Robert Redford and Joyce Carol Oates.

The Awards are an important opportunity for students to be recognized for their creative talents. Each year, the Alliance partners with more than 100 visual and literary-arts focused organizations across the country to bring The Awards to local communities. Teens in grades 7 through 12 can apply in 28 categories of art and writing for the chance to earn scholarships and have their works exhibited or published.

Submissions are juried by luminaries in the visual and literary arts, some of whom are past award recipients. Panelists look for works that best exemplify originality, technical skill and the emergence of a personal voice or vision.

In the last five years alone, students submitted nearly 900,000 original works of art and writing, and over $40 million in scholarships and financial aid has been made available to regional and national Awards winners by over 60 partnering top arts institutes and colleges. 90 years after they began, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have grown to become the longest-running, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens in the U.S., and the nation’s largest source of scholarships for creative young artists and writers."

-- from The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards http://www.artandwriting.org/the-awards/

View the FCPS Press Release on Hayun and the other local winners

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Three Kilmer Students Named to Virginia Middle School Honors Chorus

Of the forty-one students from Fairfax County Public Schools who were selected to the 2013 Virginia American Choral Directors Association Middle School Honors Chorus, three are from Kilmer Middle School: 

• Sonali Doshi
• Will Morrison
• Jared Zell

 The group will perform on Saturday, April 27, at Hanover High School in Mechanicsburg.

Kudos to these three students and to a big commendation to Kilmer Direct of Choirs, Kevin Sapp, for the work he does with all of our choral students.

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Former Kilmer Student Publishes Children's Book

Nicholas P. Kousen, a Kilmer student from 2006-2008 and now a freshman at the College of William and Mary has written a book, with his TJHSST classmate Acacia Dai illustrating. The book is called “Halebopp: A Rabbit’s Tale” and is the real-life story of a rabbit rescued by Kousen’s 7^th grade science teacher at Kilmer, Ms. Stacie Kreitman, and later adopted by the Kousen family.

The book is dedicated to Ms. Kreitman. It was published on February 7 and became available as a Kindle title on February 15. Congratulations to Kousen and Dai on this incredible achievement.

Read the full story from the Fairfax Times.

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Kilmer Student Places First in State in Virginia Scholastic Chess Championships

On March 9-10, Kilmer students competed in the Virginia Scholastic & Collegiate Chess Championships at Longwood University in Farmville, VA. Isuru Attanagoda achieved the HUGE accomplishment of placing first and becoming the K-8 Virginia State Chess Champion.

In the team competition, Kilmer placed 8^th in the state. Kilmer’s team consisted of:

• Isuru A Attanagoda
• Boyoung Zhao
• Chaitanaya M Vij

 Congratulations to Isuru and to our whole Kilmer team.

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Kilmer Team Takes First Place at Regional Odyssey of the Mind Competition

A team of Kilmer students placed first in the Northern Virginia Region 9 Odyssey of the Mind Tournament held on Saturday, March 9 at Oakton High School.

The team chose to complete the Tumble-wood problem for their long-term selection. Their task was to design and build a structure made of only balsa wood and glue that balanced and supported as much weight as possible. Before weight placement began, the team had to present a commercial that included the structure rolling down a ramp. The structure was scored for how far it rolled and for how much weight it held. The team was required to integrate the placement of the weights into the performance. The Kilmer team scored extremely well in all areas, receiving perfect marks for their spontaneous problem and near perfect marks in all areas.

They will next compete in the Virginia State Odyssey of the Mind Tournament on Saturday, April 13 at John Champe High School in Aldie, VA. Congratulations to all involved and best of luck moving forward!

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16 Students Compete in Kilmer's Optimist Club Oratorical Contest

Congratulations to all 16 of the Optimist Club Oratorical contestants who wrote and delivered 4 minute speeches to a panel of judges on Friday.  Winners for the boys were: 3rd place: Surya Ambardar; 2nd Place: Andres Perez; and 1st place:  Thomas Mecherikunnel. Winners for the girls were: 3rd place: Kiersten Paul; 2nd place: Siri Doddi; and 1st place: Maggie McAden.

Winners Maggie and Thomas will go on to compete against the winners from Thoreau and Luther Jackson Middle Schools on Wednesday, March 20.

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Kilmer Orchestra ROCKS State Assessment!

All four Kilmer orchestras participating in the state assessment this past weekend at Kenmore Middle School received STRAIGHT SUPERIOR ratings from the judges. This is a huge accomplishment and we are very proud of all performers.

The students played beautifully and showed incredible maturity and focus and were led by our amazing Orchestra Director, Marci Swift.

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Kilmer NJHS & 8th Grade Class Donate 400 Snack Bags!

Congrats to Kilmer Middle School’s National Junior Honor Society in partnership with the 8th grade class for a successful “snack - Fill 400 in February” campaign.  Students donated over 400 snack bags for needy children and families in Alternative House’ 9 programs and earned 134 community service hours.  Thanks to all who donated or volunteered --   you made a difference in our community!


View the Vienna Patch's article about this accomplishment!



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