Academic Spotlight

High School Science Olympiad Defends Region Championship    

          The Thomasville Scholars Academy High School Science Olympiad defended its region championship last Saturday, defeating 20 other teams including those from much larger schools.  Camden County finished second followed by Tift County in third.  This marks the Scholars Academy’s second consecutive regional championship and its third invitation to the state tournament.
          The region tournament was held at ABAC in Tifton, Saturday, March 6.  “We were a little nervous when we found out that there would be so many schools at the competition and several of them from the Atlanta area,” said coach Laura Kornegay,  “Our small team of eleven students placed in the top 10 in all twenty-three events!”
          Scored much like a track meet, teams can have up to 15 students and compete in 23 different events in the areas of physical science, life science, earth science, technology, and science process.  Medals are awarded to 1st-4th place and ribbons are awarded to 5th-10th place.
          First place medals went to Shradha Patel, Sarah Allen, and Patricia Odette in Experimental Design and to Joey Olson and Raine Hayes in Fossils.  Second place medals went to Travis Draper and Pooja Kapadia in Anatomy & Physiology; Patel and Allen in Environmental Chemistry;  and Allen, Shamara Battle, and Hayes in Picture This.  Third place medals were awarded to Draper and Kapadia in Disease Detectives.  Fourth place medals were awarded to Kapadia & Draper in Cell Biology; and Reggie Knight and Natalie Ballard in Dynamic Planet. 
          Fifth place winners were Allen and Battle in Chemistry Lab; Olson and Hayes in Fossils; Olson & Bradley Parke in Remote Sensing;  and Parke & Odette in Technical Problem Solving.  Sixth place winners were Parke and Allen in Astronomy; Battle and Knight in Ecology; Hayes and Olson in Egg-o-naut; Patel & Odette in It’s About Time; and Hayes, Battle, and Ballard in Mission Possible.  Seventh place winners were Parke & Olson in Physics Lab; Ballard and Knight in Trajectory; and Hayes and Odette in Write It/Do It.  Eighth place winners were Olson and Parke in Mousetrap Vehicle.  Ninth place ribbons were awarded to Battle and Odette in Ornithology.  Tenth place ribbons were awarded to Hayes and Kapadia in Elevated Bridge.
          The team will advance to Science Olympiad State Competition on April 10 at Emory University.

Past items of interest: 

Science Fair Top Honors Go to Scholars Academy Students

           Thomasville Scholars Academy walked away with all four top honors at the ABAC Region Science Fair held February 19th at Tifton College.  Eleven students will advance to compete at the Georgia Science & Engineering Fair to be held at the University of Georgia on March 31-April 3. 
           Senior Lizzie Kornegay received first place overall in the senior division for the third year in a row for her study of the Ochlocknee River.  Lizzie studied the relationship between water quality and precipitation.  In addition to a trophy for her honor, Lizzie received a cash award of $100.  Freshman Randy Herndon received the second place overall award for his study of the best performing shotgun shells for skeet.  Other high school students qualifying to advance to the state level are Alexa Buxton, Kara Meng, Kelli Owens, Jay Patel, Ali Ross, and Rosalie White. 
           Eighth grader Sarah Wells receive the first place overall trophy in the junior division.  Sarah studied the behavior of mice when they are rewarded and when the reward is removed.  Stanford Hancock, also an eighth grader, received second place overall for his study of the effects of over-the-counter medicine on Daphnia.  Sixth grader Emily Kornegay alsoqualified to advance to state.  Mason Hodge and Felix Edwards were named alternates for the state competition.  Other middle school students who received first place recognition at the region fair are Kevin Scott, Jacob Rieber, and Paxton Stephens.  Science teachers Brian Beaty, Laura Kornegay, and Dana Miller sponsored the students in this competition.

Middle School Science Olympiad Students Sweep Competition

The middle school Science Olympiad teams from the Thomasville Scholars Academy swept the regional competition held Saturday in Douglas, Georgia, capturing first place in fifteen of the twenty-three events. Fielding two teams, the Scholars Academy brought home both the first and third place trophies in the science and engineering competition.  Laura Kornegay is the Science Olympiad coach. 

The first place team will advance to state competition at Augusta State University in March.

First place winners were Nil Patel & Dylan Patel in Physical Science Lab; Abhi Patel, Kirsten Magda, and Jacob Rieber in Experimental Design; Emily Kornegay & Ryan Davis in Compute This; Jacob Latz & Dylan Patel in Shock Value; Caela Lameier & Magda in Wright It/Do It; N. Patel & Abhi Patel in Junkyard Challenge; Lameier & Kirsten Magda in Ecology; Latz & Ryan Davis in Trajectory; Cole Williamson & Lucas Gardner in Fossils; Bronwyn Gilbert, Paige Knuckles, Andrea Parker, & Kylie Marsh in Pentathlon; Sam Wells & Walker Harris in Ornithology; Yash Patel and Rett Baker in Battery Buggy; Andrea Parker & Marsh in Can’t Judge a Powder; Parker & Gilbert in Solar System; and Bailey Crawford & Gardner in Fossils.

Second place winners were Harris & Baker in Physical Science Lab; Parker & Marsh in Compute This; Baker & Harris in Shock Value; Gardner & Y. Patel in Trajectory; Latz, Magda, Lameier, & D. Patel in Pentathlon; Rieber & Davis in Ornithology; James Herbert & Davis in Elevated Bridge; Javari Parks & A. Patel in Bio-Process; Shivanee Patel & Rieber in Dynamic Planet; Lameier & Magda in Anatomy; and Herbert & Rieber in Road Scholar.

Third place winners were  N. Patel & A. Patel in Battery Buggy; Mackenzie Mobley & S. Patel in Can’t Judge a Powder; Kornegay & Mobley in Disease Detectives; D. Patel & N. Patel in Wright Stuff; Davis and A. Patel in Solar System; Kornegay & S. Patel in Meteorology; Crawford, Gilbert & Knuckles in Experimental Design; Williamson & Gardner in Science Crimebusters; Y. Patel & Knuckles in Bio-Process; and Williamson & Baker in Road Scholar.

Fourth place winners were Williamson & Wells in Wright It/Do It; Gardner & Parks in Elevated Bridge; Parker & Crawford in Disease Detectives; Baker & Williamson in Ecology; Marsh and Knuckles in Meteorology; Harris & Wells in Wright Stuff; Amber Harris & Y. Patel in Anatomy; S. Patel & Mobley in Fossils; and Mobley & Kornegay in Science Crimebusters.

The goals of Science Olympiad include (1) to bring science to life, to show how science works, to emphasize problem solving aspects of science and the understanding of science concepts, (2) to develop teamwork and cooperative learning strategies among students, (3) to promote high levels of achievement and a commitment to excellence, to demonstrate that American students can perform at levels that surpasses expectations of even practicing scientists and engineers, and (4) to attract more students particularly females and minorities to professional and technical careers in science, technology, and science teaching.

Academic Excellence at Andrew College Competition
          On January 21st, teacher Erin White entered a group of students representing Thomasville High School's Academic Team in the 6th Annual Andrew College Academic Tournament in Cuthbert.  They competed in either math, social studies, or science and also in a quiz bowl tournament that covered multiple curricular areas. There were 15 schools in attendance.  THS Scholars Academy students performed extremely well garnering the following awards:

9th grade:
Social Studies - George Lilly, 1st place
Science - Rosalie White, 2nd place
Math - Jay Patel, 1st place

10th grade:
Social Studies - James Blackwell, 1st place & Josh Willis, 2nd
Science - Shamara Battle, 1st place
Math - Sarah Allen, 1st place

11th grade:
Social Studies - Rebecca Jones, 1st place & Garrison Hardy, 2nd place
Science - Travis Draper, 2nd place
Math - Jeremy Hehn, 1st place & Justin Brotzman, 2nd place

12th grade:
Social Studies - John Aston 2nd place
Science - Lizze Kornegay 1st place, Bradley Parke 2nd place
Math - Patricia Odette 1st place, Kate Jones 2nd place

Quiz Bowl - 2nd place out of 24 teams, 1st place before the tie-breaker question about Harry Potter! 
Team captain was Brooks Woodward along John Ashton, Raine Hayes, Travis Draper, Tanner Warren, Garrison Hardy. 

Georgia High School Writing Test Perfect Scores

         Scholars Academy juniors Tanner Warren, Shivani Patel, and Travis Draper made perfect scores on the Georgia High School Writing Test which is administered to all students in the eleventh grade.

College Board Names AP Scholars

Nine students from Thomasville High School and the Scholars Academy have earned AP Scholar Awards in recognition of their exceptional achievement on Advanced Placement exams. The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on students’ performance on AP Exams.  Sunny Altman, senior of the class of 2009, qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and grades of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. Laura Istrate, Lizzie Kornegay, and Bradley Parke are three students who qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by earning an average grade of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken and grades of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams. Raine Hayes, Thomas McMillan, Patricia Odette, Dean Tennille, and Jessica White are five students who qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP Exams with grades of 3 or higher. 

Students Achieve in Nationwide Science Competition

        ExploraVision is a science competition sponsored by Toshiba and the National Science Teachers Association that encourages K-12 students of all interest, skill and ability levels to create and explore a vision of future technology by combining their imaginations with the tools of science. All inventions and innovations result from creative thinking and problem solving. Sophia Latz, Shradha Patel, Emily Bateman, and Sarah Allen   envisioned a catalyst that would allow trees to grow at a faster rate. The invention would allow areas devastated by fire or other natural disasters to be replenished faster.  It would also allow for increased use of this renewable resource. These Thomasville Scholars Academy students placed in the top six in the country in their division.  As region-winning finalists, they were presented with a laptop computer and other awards by a Toshiba representative during an awards program at the Scholars Academy.

Click HERE to view a special congratulatory message recently received from U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss.