News of the achievements of local students and members of the Armed Forces.
** The following local students earned degrees during recent commencement exercises at the University of Maryland Global Campus:
Joowon Lee of Vienna earned a master of science degree in biotechnology. Mitchell Baas of McLean earned a master of science degree in cybersecurity management and policy. Daniel Weiss of Oakton earned a master of science degree in cybersecurity technology. Joan Engel of McLean earned a master of science degree in cybersecurity technology.
DiJonae Bates of Vienna earned a bachelor of science degree in health-services management. Joe Battle of McLean earned a bachelor of science degree in information-systems management. Alexandra Frontin of Vienna earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration. Ozkul Akin of McLean earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration.
Preshika Chaudhary of McLean earned an associate of arts degree.
** Sean Stack of Oakton earned a bachelor of science degree in human performance during recent commencement exercises at the University of Tampa.
** Thomas Edelmann of Vienna, Solomon Hutchins of Vienna, Jessica Maebius of Great Falls, Amanda Mitchell of Oakton and Katherine Vietmeyer of Oakton have been named to faculty honors for the fall semester at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).
** Tyler McDermott of Vienna, a graduate of Choate Rosemary Hall, has been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at St. Lawrence University.
** Declan Burros of McLean has been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at Elmhurst University.
** Audrey Saliba of McLean has been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at the University of Scranton.
** The following local students have been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at Hamilton College:
Sophia Bernstein of McLean, a graduate of the Madeira School; Henry Boehm of McLean, a graduate of the Potomac School; Gregory Kopp of McLean, a graduate of Gonzaga College High School; Alexandra Lee Hoffman of McLean, a graduate of Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School; and Charlotte Quinn of McLean.
** Saige Teti of Vienna has been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
** Tyler Megonigal of Vienna has been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at Lock Haven University.
** Gwenyth Hoyt of Vienna has been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at Quinnipiac University.
** Simon Kasbari of Oakton and Sydney Marenburg of McLean have been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at Hofstra University.
** Will Kiser of Great Falls; Anisa Ardeisharr, Rebecca Damelin, Lucy DuBois, Brandon Liao, Gwen Liston, Erin Schlegel and Sophie Smith of McLean; Roberts Jansons of Oakton; and Sydney Bamdad, Yifan Jia, Leyla O’Beirne, Aiden Petersen, Cole Remy and Brendan Wheeler of Vienna have been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
** Chae Hyun Kim, Alan Kohler, Cecilia Remy and Yash Shekar of Vienna have been named to the dean’s list for the fall semester at the George Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).
** The 2022 Regional Scholastic Art Awards program has awarded Fairfax County Public Schools students in grades 7-12 a total of 497 awards for outstanding artwork, including 160 Gold Key awards, 160 Silver Key awards and 177 honorable-mention awards.
Artworks were submitted and judged in categories including drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, ceramics, sculpture, digital art, design, architecture, jewelry, fashion, film and animation, mixed-media and portfolios.
Students from the Sun Gazette coverage area winning Gold Key awards included Zara Adams, Langley High School; Campbell Al-Khafaji, McLean High School; Jessica Bae, James Madison High School; Sophia Ball, Oakton High School; Pengrui Chen, Langley High School; Victoria Chen, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology; Anna Cheng, Oakton High School; Grace Choi, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology; Nic Crews, James Madison High School; Elisabeth Eick, McLean High School; Keya Gandhi, Oakton High School; Zoe Gordiyenko, Oakton High School; Bella Gustafson, James Madison High School.
Also, Jisoo Hwang, McLean High School; Caila Kooc, Oakton High School; Seorin Kwak, Longfellow Middle School; Cherry Lee, McLean High School; Julia Lee, Thoreau Middle School; Olivia Lee, James Madison High School; Elina Lu, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology (also American Visions Award nominee); Amerina Miller, Oakton High School; Maria Molchanova, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology; Sarah Naidick, Oakton High School; Chloe Nie, McLean High School; Ashley Osganian, Langley High School; Zoey Pagotto, McLean High School.
Also, Jackie Palmer, McLean High School; Mulan Pan, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology; Phoebe Pan, Langley High School; Cindy Peng, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology; Cyrus Rivers, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology; Noah Sandrowitz, James Madison High School; Zejia Song, Langley High School; Stevan Van Biljon, McLean High School; Alison Wan, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology; Sanne Wu, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology; Chloe Xie, Cooper Middle School; and Angela Yang, McLean High School.
The Gold Key and Silver Key artworks will be displayed at Northern Virginia Community College’s Ernst Community Cultural Center in Annandale from Feb. 11 to March 24, with an awards ceremony on Feb. 23.
Gold Key works will move on to regional competition.
The Scholastic Art Awards program, presented by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, is the largest, longest-running recognition program of its kind in the U.S. Established in 1923, the awards have recognized teens who have become some of our nation’s most celebrated artists, including Richard Avedon, Robert Indiana, Phillip Pearlstein, and Andy Warhol.
** Marymount University has been selected by the Center for Excellence in Education to host the national finals of the 2022 USA Biolympiad, to be held on campus May 28 to June 9.
The USA Biolympiad is the nation’s largest cost-free biology-education testing and training program for high-school students in the U.S. Nearly 11,000 students register annually to participate in the organization’s national biology exams, and the top 20 national finalists participate in 10 days of intense instruction at the national finals.
Four gold-medalists from the event will represent the U.S. at the International Biology Olympiad, to be held in Armenia in July.
“The students are some of the highest-achieving biology students in the country,” said Joann DiGennaro, president of the Center for Excellence in Education. She said her organization was excited to again be partnering with Marymount.
Todd Rimkus, director of Marymount’s School of Natural Science & Mathematics and a professor of biology and physical sciences, said the university was “thrilled” to be hosting the gathering.
“Our faculty are passionate about helping students succeed now and into the future, and we’re looking forward to putting the spotlight on these high-achieving young adults,” Rimkus said. “We’re also excited to demonstrate how a STEM education at Marymount can get these students, who are the best and brightest in their generation, where they want to go in their future careers.”