Academic Excellence

Awards and Recognitions

• Upper School Student Wins Second Place in Chinese Bridge Contest

  

  The Chinese Consulate in Houston, Texas hosted the preliminary contest for the 5th annual "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for High School Students on April 22, 2012. Upper School student, Grant West, placed 2nd in this regional contest. In addition to giving a speech, he also presented a tongue-twister and Chinese yo-yo performance.

  Read More

• Sixth Grader is State Winner in Essay Contest

  Sixth grader Keera McD. was recently was selected as the overall state winner of the “If I Were Mayor, I Would” essay contest for the Georgia Municipal Association. On Wednesday, April 25, she and 11 other district winners were honored at a luncheon at Turner Field.

  Keera was selected as the overall state winner from more than 6,000 entries.

  Read More

• Broadway Actor Speaks to English Drama Class

  

  Broadway actor Richard Todd Adams visited Mrs. Jane Graham's Upper School English 4HP (Drama) class on Wednesday, April 25 as a special guest speaker. He spoke about his career and experiences on Broadway. Mr. Adams has performed as both the Phantom and Raoul in Phantom of the Opera and is currently on tour with Les Miserables.

  Read More

• Robotics Teams Earns Trophy at World Championship

  After three days of competition, the Woodward Robotics team was ranked 6th, 8th and 25th in their respective 99-robot divisions. Two Woodward robots were in alliances for their division elimination rounds. One robot alliance advanced to the semifinals of their division.

  One of Woodward's robots was presented with the division's Amaze Award, recognizing a competition robot that demonstrates quality, robust programming, strong performance and overall teamwork.

  Woodward Academy is one of two high schools in Georgia to bring home a trophy from the World Championship.

  Read More

• Robotics Team Competes at World Championship

  

  The Upper School Robotics team, led by computer science teacher Mr. Timothy Hipp, has arrived in Anaheim, California to compete in the 2012 VEX Robotics World Championship.

  For more information about the event, click here.

  Read More

• Debate Team Wins National Championship

  

  Woodward Academy seniors Rahim Shakoor and Jason Sigalos recently won the National Debate Coaches' Association National Championship in Las Vegas. This win represents the first national debate championship in Academy history.

  In seven preliminary rounds and four elimination rounds, the duo won each ballot and achieved a perfect 19-0 record. They also twice defeated the number one ranked team in the country, Greenhill School of Dallas.

  Read More

• Middle School Students Achieve in Math League Contest

  All of Woodward's seventh and eighth grade students participated in the statewide Georgia Math League Contest in February. (A total of 79 schools participated at the seventh grade level and 77 at the eighth grade level.) Woodward's seventh grade team score (comprised of the top five scores from the grade level) was the state's second highest. Missing a perfect score by only one question, seventh grader Vamsi Gadde ranked first in the state. Seventh grader Andrew Sun tied for second in the state. The eighth grade team score ranked 12th in the state. Congratulations to the seventh and eighth graders for outstanding results!

  Read More

• Junior Selected for Governor's Honors Program

  Woodward Academy junior Morgan Millon was recently selected as a participant in the French division of the prestigious Governor's Honors Program (GHP). GHP is a four-week summer residential instructional program designed to provide intellectually gifted and artistically talented high school students challenging and enriching educational opportunities not usually available during the regular school year. Activities are designed to provide each participant with opportunities to acquire the skills, knowledge and attitudes to become independent, life-long learners. The Georgia Governor's Honors Program is fully-funded by the Georgia General Assembly, and operates at no cost to the participant.

  Morgan is currently enrolled in AP French Language and Culture courses.

  Fore more information about the Governor's Honors Program, visit: http://www.gadoe.org/School-Improvement/GHP/Pages/default.aspx.

  Read More

• 26 Students Participate in FLAG Annual Spoken Language Contest

  Students from around the state of Georgia participated in the Foreign Language Association of Georgia's (FLAG) Annual Spoken Language Contest, held on Saturday, March 3, 2012 at Decatur High School. The 26 Woodward students who participated in French, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese were interviewed by a judge who assessed their speaking skills. All Woodward students won an award, with 90 percent receiving the top award of Superior. Two students participated in two different languages.

  Students who participated in the contest were:

  Kindall Brantley Greg Cortelyou Lauren Culver Amy Dam Ronak Dave Riana Dawson Mary deGolian Kareem Elhadidi Cai Glencross Chris Lea Megha Madan Morgan Millon Sathvik Namburar

  Charlotte Nicholson Gretchen Nordhausen Ana North Nnedi Obichi Elizabeth Pilger Carter Roberts Brett Schwartz Ansley Sobel Megan Taylor Jeongran Vander Woude Molly Wafer James Williamson Rachel Zinney

  
  

  Read More

• Second Grader in Top 50 Worldwide in Science Competition

  Woodward North second grader Ashi J. finished in the top 50 worldwide for her age group in the World Science Day competition. World Science Day is part of the World Education Games sponsored by UNICEF.

  The World Education Games is an event for all schools and students around the world. It runs from March 6-8, involving 5.5 million students from more than 200 countries and territories. This is the global challenge to get all students (4-18 years of age) excited about learning, and to give the top students in each school an opportunity to see how they measure up against the best.

  Read More

• Senior Earns Ramsey Scholarship

  

  Woodward Academy senior Tripp Maloney is one of 28 incoming high school seniors who has been offered the Ramsey Scholarship; one of the University of Georgia's premier academic awards.

  The Ramsey Scholarship program provides recipients with an array of scholastic and extracurricular opportunities, including study abroad, internship and research experiences. Individual attention and student-faculty interactions are another major component of the program to build and support an exemplary undergraduate community of future scholars and leaders.

  The class of 2016 was chosen from 900 applicants. Finalists participated in a campus interview weekend in February with faculty-led seminars, social gatherings with current Fellows and interviews with senior faculty, UGA Foundation trustees, alumni and university staff.

  The average SAT score for last year's incoming class was 1560 and the average ACT score was 34. Their high school grade point average was 4.15 on a 4.0 scale, which indicates extra points for Advanced Placement classes.

  Read More

• New Members Inducted into National Honor Society

  

  New members were inducted into Woodward Academy's Randolph Thrower Chapter of the National Honor Society during a ceremony on Main Campus on Friday, February 17. Alumni Board Member Valaurie Bridges Lee '90 was the speaker for the convocation.

  Congratulations on this high achievement to the following new NHS members:

  Sade Aderibigbe Bahar Amalfard Eva Anderson Brooke Aspinwall Karaz Axam Grayson Berger Ellie Blocker Holly Boyles Kindall Brantley Ashley Bruce Cali Callaway Catherine Carter Katan Cheti Chelsey Clark Avery Cobb Dan Connolly Ford Croft Tom Cruse Lauren Culver Amy Dam John Dannehl Ronak Dave Mary Helen deGolian Davis DeRodes Neil Dhruv Elizabeth Dickerson Alex Duner Pilar Duralde Hannah Fleming Morgan Foreman Ethan Frank Claire Gaxiola Thomas Giornelli Katie Goldstein Haley Gooding Samantha Grindell Tiana Grissom Lucy Gross Kelly Guest Nolan Hall Brianna Hathaway Hannah Hewitt Lauren Hibbard Michelle Huang Trevor Jann Julia Johnson Anna Kelly

  Elena Klonoski Raajita Koneru Anna Kreger Andie Kuehndorf Calder LaBriola Morgan LaMarca Hal Leveque Taylor Lin Alex Lucas Katie Mann Taylor Mann Charles Marcus John Massey Isaiah Matthews Hollyanne Maxey Carroll Middelthon Morgan Millon Tommy Moorman Wilson Morgan Robert Newman Rebecca Ni Annalise Noeltner Nnedi Obichi Kailey Orkin Justin Payan Alex Phillips David Pottle Michelle Raphael Carter Roberts Alex Robinson Jared Ross Morgan Rousseau Ian Roy Nabil Sawja Rachel Sharitz Hannah Silvers Tarin Singhapakdi Ansley Sobel Karthik Srinivasan Caitlin Stanyard Ryan Strat Caroline Tucker Caroline Wilkinson William Willsey Ava Wilson Killian Wyatt Phillip Yamin

  Read More

• Sophomore Wins National Poetry Contest

  Sophomore Christopher Kennedy, last year's recipient of the First Annual Cleo Hudson Carmack Poetry Award for Best Upper School Poet, is one of five national winners in the VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) Poetry contest. His poem, "Mystery Train" will be published in the VOYA periodical. Christopher also received a cash prize.

  Read More

• Junior Attends Summer Program at The College of William & Mary

  

  Woodward Academy Junior Caitlyn Rutan was selected as one of 60 students to attend the 2011 Pre-Collegiate Summer Program at The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Caitlyn attended seminars, studied original works for the course and visited historical sites in Virginia. She also earned four hours of academic college credit.

  The Ross American History Scholar Award offered at Woodward Academy is a new summer study opportunity provided by the family of Robert Warren Ross. Beginning in the summer of 2012, a selected rising senior will attend the College of William & Mary's Pre-Collegiate Summer Program in Early American History. All fees and costs associated with attending the summer program will be covered by the Robert Warren Ross American History Scholar Award. Please visit the following link for more information: Ross History Award.

  Read More

• Upper School Students Chosen for MIT Think Scholars Program

  Senior Kareem Elhadidi and junior Ryan Strat were one of three teams chosen by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Think Scholars Program for their independent computer science research project titled “Cristo Rey IT Department Planning.” Their project aims to create the ideal, low-cost IT infrastructure for a developing school.

  The THINK Scholars Program is an educational outreach initiative that promotes science, technology, engineering and mathematics by supporting and funding projects developed by high school students. The program is run by undergraduate students at MIT and sponsored by technology companies and educational organizations.
  
  Kareem and Ryan have been awarded a scholarship and an all expenses paid trip to MIT to attend the annual Techfair, where they will visit with professors and establish mentoring relationships with experts. Through the Think Scholars Program, Kareem and Ryan will be eligible to receive up to $2,000 in funding to purchase materials or equipment needed to complete their project.
  
  To read more about their project, visit: http://mitthink.mit.edu/program#results.

  Read More

• Senior Wins National Information Technology Award for Women

  Senior Julie Hubschman was selected as a recipient of the 2011-2012 National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) Award for Aspirations in Computing Georgia Affiliate. Julie was one of 20 young women selected from the state of Georgia to receive this award. Junior Chelsey Clark was named a runner-up.
  
  NCWIT is a nonprofit coalition that works to increase diversity in IT and computing. NCWIT believes that greater diversity will create a larger and more competitive workforce and promote the design of technology that is as broad and innovative as the population it serves. NCWIT focuses on improving diversity across the entire spectrum: K-12 through college education, and on to academic, corporate and entrepreneurial careers.

  To learn more about NCWIT, visit: http://www.ncwit.org/.

  Read More

• WN Sixth Grader Wins Middle School Spelling Bee

  Woodward North sixth grader Phoebe L. won the Middle School Spelling Bee held on January 6, 2012. Phoebe will represent Woodward Academy in the Atlanta Area Georgia Independent School Association Spelling Bee on February 9, 2012. This phase of the spelling bee consists of 100 written words. If Phoebe scores in the top ten in the Atlanta Area bee, she will qualify to participate in the next round in Marietta on February 23.

  Read More

• Senior Named Semifinalist in Intel Science Talent Search

  Senior Harrison Paul was selected as a 2012 Intel Science Talent Search semifinalist for his work in Woodward's Independent Student Research (ISR) program, which pairs students with scientists from local research institutes such as Emory and Georgia Tech. The Intel Science Talent Search is among the nation's most prestigious pre-college science compeitions. It recognizes 300 students and their schools each year as semifinalists to compete for $1.25 million in awards. In 2012, 1,839 students applied to the program.

  Read More

• Seventh Grader Wins Middle School Geography Bee

  

  Seventh grader Benjamin Reich won first place in the Middle School Geography Bee on December 7. The bee is sponsored by the National Geographic Society and requires knowledge on a wide range of geographic topics. The questions were difficult, and the competition was very tough. Seventh grader Jackson Payan came in second place.

  Benjamin will now take a test prepared by the National Geographic Society to determine if he qualifies for the State Bee. The winner of the State Bee will advance to the National Geography Bee in
  Washington, D.C, with a chance for a $25,000 college scholarship, lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society, $500 cash and a trip to the Galapagos Islands.
  
  Other participants in the Middle School bee were Ali Abdullah, Justin Berger, J.T. Bernard, Aaron Brown, Noah Carlyle, Ethan Cheng, Cheyenne Early, Yash Darshane, Maya Foreman, Vamsi Gadde, Landon Goldstein, Harry Gould, Alex Moore, Vinay Nandanampati, Garrett Oberkfell, Holcombe Rolader, Aly Shakoor, Andy Sun, Josh Vayle and Sabrina Zhao.

  Read More

• Georgia Math League Contest

  Woodward Academy is tied for fourth place in the state in the 2011-2012 Georgia Math League contest. Perfect scores for round one were posted by upper schoolers Louis Galonsky, Michelle Xinyue Huang, Harini Indrakrishnan and Ronak Dave. Five more GAML rounds will be held once a month until March.
  

  Read More