Kilmer Students to Participate in Arena Stage Voice of Now Festival

On Friday, May 17, Kilmer students will perform as part of a five day Voices of Now festival sponsored by Arena Stage. The festival will include over 175 students from around the area who have developed one act plays under the guidance of professional artists.

Read the Sun Gazette article.

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Thomas Mecherikunnel Takes Home Top Prize in the Capital-Virginia District Optimist Club Oratorical Contest

Continuing his oratorical success all the way to the top, Thomas Mercherikunnel won the 1st place prize in the Capital-Virginia District Optimist Club Oratorical Contest. The topic of for this year's competition was "Why My Voice is Important." The award comes with $2,500 in scholarship money for Thomas to put towards his pursuit of higher education.

Follow Thomas' past successes in this contest:

March 13, 2012: Vienna Optimist Club Oratorical Contest

April 23, 2012: Optimist Club Oratorical Contest

March 12, 2013: 16 Students Compete in Kilmer's Optimist Club Oratorical Contest

March 21, 2013: Kilmer Students SWEEP Optimist Club Oratorical Contest

Way to go, Thomas!

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Kilmer Students win Toshiba NSTA ExploraVision science competition

Kilmer 8th graders Pallavi Bhave and Joyce Tien have won 1st place nationwide in the Toshiba NSTA ExploraVision science competition  with their idea for a handheld UltraViolet laser allergen detector. The contest looks at ideas that can be implemented 20 years into the future. Pallavi and Joyce both win $10,000 in savings bonds and a trip to the awards ceremony in Washington, DC.

Learn more about their innovative idea through their winning web site. We are so proud of these awesome Kilmer students!

Toshiba ExploraVision Winners Announcement
WTOP Story: VA teens win big with allergy-focused invention by Hank Silverberg (May 3, 2013)
WUSA9: Cool Schools: Kilmer Middle School Students Develop Food Allergy Detector (May 23, 2013)
The Washington Post KidsPost: Teens’ idea could help kids with allergies (June 18, 2013)

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8th Grader Ellison Kang is a Finalist in the 2013 AMNH Young Naturalist Awards

Congratulations to Ellison Kang, a finalist in the Young Naturalist Awards conducted through the American Museum of Natural History (New York). His scientific research project was “Growth Recipe: The Effect of Bio-stimulants on the Growth Rate of Kidney Beans."

The Young Naturalist Awards is a research-based science competition for students in grades 7-12 to promote participation and communication in science. The American Museum of Natural History is one of the world’s preeminent scientific and cultural institutions. Since its founding in 1869, the Museum has advanced its global mission to discover, interpret, and disseminate information about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe through a wide-ranging program of scientific research, education, and exhibition.

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Kilmer Odyssey of the Mind Team Places 1st in State -- Off to WORLD FINALS!

A team from Kilmer Middle School won first place in Tumble-wood Division II (grades 6-8) at the Virginia Odyssey of the Mind tournament, held on April 14 in Aldie, VA. The team from Kilmer will be one of three from Fairfax County Public Schools to represent Virginia in the World Finals tournament at Michigan State University in late May.

Odyssey of the Mind is an international competition that offers creative problem-solving opportunities for students in kindergarten through college. Team members solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics, then compete at the local, state, and international level.

We are so proud of our Kilmer students!

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Kilmer Day of Service a Big Success

On Wednesday, April 17, all of Kilmer suspended regular lessons and participated in a Day of Service. View our press coverage surrounding the event.

• Kilmer Middle School Students Plan Day of Service on April 17 (FCPS Press Release, 4/15/2013)

• School's Day of Service Offers Lessons in Giving: Program encourages Kilmer Middle School students to ‘get outside their own box’ by Holly Hobbs (Fairfax Times, 4/18/2013)

• A Day of Service at Kilmer Middle: Students learn how to make a difference in their community and the world by Ngalula Tshishimbi (Vienna Connection, 4/22/2013)

• Kilmer Students Participate in Day of Service (Sun Gazette, 4/29/2013

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Kilmer Students Win Big on National Latin Exam

We are very proud of our National Latin Exam award winners. This year we had 46 students take the exam and 29 win awards -- congratulations to Kilmer's awesome Latin teacher, Cheri Miller and the following students:

Gold Medal winners (Summa cum laude)

• Nitin Rao (highest score in the school, missing only one question)
• Ravi Kodali
• Siri Doddi
• Coco Strassberg
• Emma Barberis

Silver Medal (Maxima cum laude)

• Nikita Semchev
• Melody Chiang
• Nikhil Roa
• Ryan Ha
• Thomas Mecherikunnel
• Brian Anderson
• Alyssa Czaban
• Akila Jayanthan
• Nirasha Abeysekera

Bronze Medal (Magna cum laude)

• Allison Lew
• Sam Murphy
• Chris Niu
• Rachel Wade

Honorable Mention (cum laude)

• David Choi
• Patrick Hufnagel
• Khoi Tran
• Jordyn Park
• Claire Heiden
• Teja Vayuvegula
• Timmy Chan
• Lia Rodriguez
• Nadia Hamad
• Emily Schwab

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