TJHSST Academic Boosters Math and Science Olympiads TJ has five academic teams that participate in qualifying exams used to select the US teams for international Olympiads in math, biology, chemistry, physics and computer programming (informatics). Some of these TJ teams also participate in other subject-­‐specific competitions. TJ’s Math Team holds practices during and after school. Most practices are designed to hone students’ problem solving skills, while after-­‐school USA Math Olympiad practices also train students to do formal math proofs. Students participate in many math contests at TJ, including the AMC 10, AMC 12, AIME, and USA(J)MO. Team members also travel to competitions at Princeton, Duke, Harvard/MIT, and the American Regions Math League at Penn State. In 2009-­‐2010, TJ’s A team placed second at the Duke Math Meet, second at the Princeton Math Competition and fourth at the Harvard-­‐
MIT Math Tournament. In 2010, thirteen TJ students qualified to take the USA(J)MO. Faculty Sponsors: Pat Gabriel and Jennifer Allard Officers: Akshar Wunnava ‘10; Brian Hamrick ‘10; Renjie You ‘10 TJ Website: http://activities.tjhsst.edu/vmt TJ has Freshman, Intermediate and Senior-­‐level Computer Teams. The teams participate in regional, national and international competitions at school and around the country. Competitions include the USA Computing Olympiad, Association of Computing Machinery, Internet Problem Solving Contest, Topcoder, and Continental Math League. In 2009, in the American Computer Science League All-­‐Star competition, the Freshman team tied for third in the Junior Division and the Intermediate team placed third in the Senior Division. In 2009, TJ’s Senior Team sent three students to the USA Computing Olympiad training camp, and one team member represented the USA at the International Olympiad in Informatics. Faculty Sponsors: Shane Torbert (Senior Team), Ann Drobnis (Intermediate Team) and Steve Rose (Freshman Team) Senior Team Officers: Brian Hamrick ‘10; Jack Chen ’10; Andre Kessler ‘11 Website: http://activities.tjhsst.edu/sct TJ’s Biology Olympiad club team meets during 8th period to prepare students for the USA Biology Olympiad qualifying exams. In 2010, 32 TJ students qualified as semifinalists, out of 500 nationwide semifinalists and one student qualified as one of the 20 USA Biology Olympiad National Finalist. The National Finalists train at Purdue University and compete for one of the four USA Team members. TJ’s Biology team also competes at the Biology Bowl at Clemson University. Faculty Sponsor: Ithalda Uston Officers: Luke Cheng ‘10 TJ Website: http://activities.tjhsst.edu/bioolympiad USABO Website: http://www.cee.org/programs/usabo Sponsored by the American Chemical Society, the USA Chemistry Olympiads are designed to encourage more students to pursue chemistry. Current rules allow 12 TJ students to compete in the Local Exam, and two students who have not been to the training camp to take the National Exam. At TJ, Chemistry Olympiad is open to students who are enrolled in or have completed AP Chemistry. Members participate in problem-­‐based and inquiry lab skill development sessions to prepare for qualifying exams. In 2009, TJ sent one student to the USA Chemistry Olympiad Training camp. In 2010, three students qualified to take the National Exam. Faculty Sponsor: Hadan Kauffman Website (USA Chemistry Olympiad): http://tinyurl.com/djj7yu TJ’s Physics Team meets to prepare for qualifying exams for the USA Physics Olympiad and AAPT Physics Bowl; students discuss physics topics and practice solving knotty physics problems. In 2009, eight members were semifinalists on the USA Physics Olympiad exams and one TJ Physics team member qualified for the USA Physics Olympiad training camp. So far in 2010, 29 members are semifinalists on the USA Physics Olympiad exams. Faculty Sponsor: John Dell Officers: Daniel Li ‘10 Website: http://activities.tjhsst.edu/physics TJ’s Botball team builds robots, programs them in a C variant, holds robot competitions, and competes in the annual Greater DC Regional Botball tournament. In 2010, TJ sent three teams to the regional tournament, earning top scores in Documentation, the Seeding round, and on-­‐site Presentation. Faculty Sponsor: Marion Billington Website: http://activities.tjhsst.edu/botball TJ has a chess club that meets during lunch and 8th period, and competes in local, state and national tournaments. In 2010, TJ’s Chess Team won its 12th straight Virginia State Championships and tied for second at nationals Faculty Sponsor: Phil Ero Parent Coaches: Rick & Linda Loffredo Officers: Aryan Khojandi '10 and Craig Saperstein '11 Website: http://activities.tjhsst.edu/chess TJ’s Science Olympiad Team is new this year. Science Olympiad competitions are like academic track meets, consisting of a series of 23 team events in various topics, such as genetics, earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, astronomy, mechanical engineering and technology At the regional competition, all three TJ 15-­‐person teams received a team award. Team awards are given out to the top four overall scores. In addition to the overall team awards, TJ students received medals in 14 individual events, including 5 first place finishes. At the State competition, TJ ‘s team placed third. The team placed in 9 individual events, including seven first place finishes. Faculty Sponsor: Carol Rychlik Officers: Jenny Yung '10, Kimee Moore ’10, Franklin Zheng ‘10 Website: http://soinc.org/ Bowl s Teams TJ has five academic teams that use a jeopardy-­‐like format (including buzzers) to test students’ knowledge of specific subjects. Depending on the subject, TJ’s teams compete in local, regional and national competitions. Several also host annual competitions for other teams at TJ. TJ fields Quiz Bowl teams at local, regional and national tournaments, where students answer questions about a broad range of topics. In 2009, TJ Quiz Bowl team won the VHSL Scholastic Bowl State Championship. In 2010, TJ Quiz Bowl teams continued in their winning ways. In addition to competing, TJ’s Quiz Bowl team hosts an annual regional Quiz Bowl Tournament for other high school teams. Faculty Sponsor: Carolyn Gecan Officers: Seoup Youn ’11, Jacob Kannarkat ’10, Greyson Lewis ’10, Diana Gerr ’11 Website: http://activities.tjhsst.edu/itsacademic TJ fields three or more teams at most Certamen, where students answer questions about Latin grammar and vocabulary, Latin-­‐based etymology, Roman history and culture, and classical mythology. In 2010, TJ teams continue their winning ways – winning team trophies and individual medals. At the Virginia State Finals, TJ’s Level I teams earned third; the Level II teams placed second and the Level III team won the State Championship. In addition, TJ hosts an annual Certamen. Faculty Sponsors: Christine Conklin Officers: Chris Kilgore ‘10, Amith Ananthram ‘10 Website for TJ Latin Honor Society (related): http://activities.tjhsst.edu/latin In Japan Bowl, three-­‐student teams answer questions about Japanese language, culture, history, geography, and current events. In 2010, TJ’s Level 2 (beginner) team placed 4th and TJ’s Level 3 (intermediate) team placed 5th. Faculty Sponsor: Koji Otani Japan Bowl Website: http://www.us-­‐japan.org/dc/japanbowl.php TJ’s Ocean Bowl A and B teams, each of which has five members, learn about scientific disciplines used to study oceans (physics, chemistry, geology, atmospheric science and biology) and about the impact of oceans on economies, history, and culture. In 2010, at the regional Chesapeake Bay Bowl competition, the TJ-­‐team placed first and then placed seventh at the National Competition in St. Petersburg, FL. Faculty Sponsor: Lisa Wu Website: http://activities.tjhsst.edu/oceanbowl Sponsored by the US Department of Energy, Science Bowl tests students’ knowledge of biology, chemistry, physics, earth science, astronomy, and math. So far, in 2010, the TJ Science Bowl team placed first place at the Virginia Regional Science Bowl competition and competed at the National Science Bowl. Faculty Sponsor: Sharon Webb Website (US): http://www.scied.science.doe.gov/nsb/default.htm Debate and Speech Teams TJ has three debate teams and one speech (forensics) team, which participate in the Washington Area Catholic Forensic League (WACFL), VA High School League (VHSL), and national tournaments. In 2009-­‐10, TJ’s debate and speech teams collectively performed extremely well at WACFL Metrofinals and VHSL Regionals. A record number of students qualified for NCFL Nationals. In Lincoln-­‐Douglas (LD) Debate, students debate different topics every other month, with a focus on arguing core values. In 2009-­‐10 at WACFL Metrofinals, five LD Debate students qualified for NCFL Nationals. Faculty Sponsor: Sherwood Williams Officers: Akash Gupta ’11, Christine O’Donnell ‘10 Website: http://activities.tjhsst.edu/debate In Policy Debate, two-­‐person teams research and debate one topic throughout the school year, using evidence to develop a plan and critique opponents’ plans. In 2009-­‐
2010, at WACFL Metrofinals, three TJ teams (6 students) qualified for NCFL Nationals and the team won first place sweepstakes award, which is awarded based on high team rankings. Faculty Sponsor: Thomas Steele Officers: Hannah Clark ‘10; Franklin Zheng ‘10 Website: http://activities.tjhsst.edu/policy In Public Forum debate, two-­‐person teams debate different topics monthly in a cross-­‐fire question and answer style. In 2009-­‐10, three TJ Public Forum teams (6 students) qualified for NCFL Nationals, and the team tied for first at WACFL Public Forum Metrofinals. Faculty Sponsor: Michael Miller Officers: Seoup Youn ’11, Cindy Han ’11 In 2009-­‐10, two TJ’s speech/forensics team members qualified for NCFL Nationals in original oratory and one duo team qualified for NCFL Nationals. Faculty Sponsor: Milde Waterfall Officer: Rebecca Friedman ’10 Other Academic Teams In Model United Nations (MUN), students research international issues, and act as representatives for specific foreign countries during local, regional and national Model UN conferences throughout the year. TJ’s MUN team and individuals regularly take home top awards from these conferences. In addition, TJ’s MUN sponsors an annual TechMUN for local middle and high school delegates. Faculty Sponsor: Alexandra Pou and John Struck Officers: Swetha Pasala ’10; Sid Bhatia ‘10 Website: http://activities.tjhsst.edu/mun Future Problem Solvers work individually or in 4-­‐person teams to quickly identify issues in a hypothetical situation, devise solutions, and draft a detailed plan to implement one solution. In 2009-­‐10, 27 TJ students qualified for the Virginia FPS State Bowl. At the State Bowl, TJ teams placed first and second and one student placed first in the individual section. Faculty Sponsors: Emily Orser and Judith Bello Officers: Daniel Sun ‘11 Website: http://activities.tjhsst.edu/fps This competition offers teams a choice of five problems, ranging from designing and building devices to writing and performing skits. TJ’s Odyssey of the Mind (OotM) teams compete at regional, state and world OotM competitions. In 2009-­‐10, three TJ teams competed at the regional competition, and two teams advanced to the state competition. TJ also hosts a Spontaneous Invitational for elementary and middle school students. Teacher Sponsor: Judith Bello Parent Liaison: Nupur Kapoor Officers: Nicole Yu ‘10