January 22, 2015
What a week it has been for Hathaway Brown! Across all disciplines, Upper School students have blazed some remarkable trails.
After racking up an impressive 82 writing awards and 24 visual arts awards in the 35th annual regional Scholastic Art & Writing competition, HB girls brought home 10 additional high honors from the Cleveland Institute of Art's special Scholastic exhibition ceremony on January 17.
Emily Imka '15 won the program's top painting honor, the Sue Wall Award - a first for HB - and she won the Writing Poetry Award. Both come with $100 prizes. Additionally, Emily became one of five regional American Voices Award nominees for her poetry. The award will be chosen by the Scholastic National Committee in New York City and announced in mid-March. Her fellow nominees include Becca Lambright '15 (who also won the $100 Writing Personal Essay/Memoir Award) and Isabella Nilsson '16 (who also won the $100 Writing Short Story Award). Another $100 award, the Writing Critical Essay Award, went to Kacey Gill '16. For her Printmaking, Lauren Kahn '15 won $100 and became one of five regional American Visions Award nominees. The winner of that award will be announced in New York City this spring. Lauren's jewelry also qualified her for the Cleveland Institute of Art Recognition Award. Recipients of this award receive a $10,000 scholarship to CIA should they be accepted to the school and choose to enroll there. This marks the first year that any HB student has received either the American Visions nomination or the CIA Recognition Award.
On January 21, Emily Spencer '15 became one of only 40 high school students across the nation who was named a finalist in the Society for Science and the Public Intel Science Talent Search competition. The Intel STS is one of the nation’s most prestigious math and science competitions and rewards rigorous original research conducted by high school seniors. Every year, the Intel STS names 300 semifinalists and selects 40 finalists from the semifinalist pool. Earlier this month, both Emily Spencer and Emily Amjad '15 were designated Intel STS semifinalists.
As an Intel finalist, Emily Spencer already is guaranteed a $7,500 prize, and she will enjoy an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. in March, with a visit to the White House to meet with President Obama. She will then present her research and compete for up to $150,000 in awards. Top award winners will be named at a gala event dinner on March 10.
Emily is also the only Intel finalist in Ohio and the only girl in the state to be recognized by both the Siemens Foundation Competition and Intel STS for her work. Her project, "Synthesis of Photo-Healable and Thermal Shape-Memory Disulfide Polymers," was the culmination of her research completed through HB's signature Science Research & Engineering Program at Case Western Reserve University School of Engineering.
And the collective contributions of 9th through 12th graders who work in the school's Osborne Writing Center to produce HB's new literary journal, Retrospect, were honored by the National Council of Teachers of English Program to Recognize Excellence in Student Literary Magazines. Retrospect won the top prize in Ohio: Superior - Nominated for Highest Award. This designation was given to only one student publication in the state, and only 30 were awarded in total. Program entries were received from 366 schools across the United States and American schools abroad.
Not only are these diverse accolades well earned and much appreciated, but they also underscore the excellent academic preparation and co-curricular opportunities available to HB students in a wide array of disciplines. HB students continue to fare amazingly well in a number of fields, and at much higher rates than at other comparable schools in the region and across the country. We couldn't be prouder of our girls. Go Blazers!