BRAVO!
BOYS SOCCER TEAM CLAIMS DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP
Congratulations to the Awty Boys Soccer Team! They claimed the 2016-17 TAPPS Division 1 District Championship with an 11-1 finish in district play.
ODYSSEY OF THE MIND
Awty’s 2nd Grade Odyssey of the Mind team put on a fantastic show for the judges in the Houston Regional competition at Paul Revere Middle School in February. Student team members included Ridyansh Agrawal, Preston Aranda, Elizabeth Eisner, Maxime Elefteriou, Malini Lombardo, Srivani Mahajanam, and Leila Sholokhova. A big thank you goes out to Awty Dad Volunteer Coaches Derek Aranda, Pablo Eisner, and Chris Lombardo, as well as Awty Mom Volunteer Coach Sujata Venkatraman for coordinating the program this year!
Following an exciting 2nd place finish by Awty’s Upper School team at Odyssey of the Mind Regionals and a 4th place finish by Awty’s 5th Grade team, both groups advanced to the state competition. Awty is very proud to report the 5th Grade and Upper School Odyssey of the Mind teams turned in two excellent performances at the State Finals, which were held at Waller High School.
The Division Three Upper School Team took Second Place and will advanced to the World Finals, to be held at Michigan State University this month. The team was very innovative. They dazzled the audience and the judges with their performance, displacing favorites Carroll High School (Southlake, Texas) and Stratford High School (Houston, Texas). Congratulations go out to team members Aiden Devins, Ashling Devins, Dalal Daher, Sofia Doroshenko, Chloe Ruzzo, Eka Savajol (from HSPVA), and Connor Wright. Special thanks to Awty mom and volunteer coach Sujata Venkatraman!
The Division One 5th Grade Team beat out a tightly packed field to proudly take Third Place on the medal stand. The team received smashing reviews from the judges, who were blown away by the team’s creativity and performance. Team members include Julie Benoit, Mateo Benoit, Julia Brown, Defne Deliormanli, Aine Devins, Juliette Oudar, and Anjeli Savajol. Special thanks to Awty mom and volunteer coach Ronda Devins!
AWTY CHESS TEAMS PLACED AT THE TEXAS STATE SCHOLASTIC CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP & ADVANCED TO SUPERNATIONALS
Awty Middle and Upper School students participated in the Texas State Scholastic Chess Championship, held in Arlington on March 3-5. The Upper School team won 2nd place, while the Middle School team took 5th place. Individual awards went to Yian Wong, who finished 15th in Classical Chess and 7th in Blitz, and Stephen Wells, who finished 6th in Blitz.
Upper School team members include: Melvin Cruz, Joe Li, Jose Mendoza, Stephen Wells, Elias Wolkiewiez, Yian Wong, and Jason Yao.
Middle School team members include: Julian Blanco, Célian Butré, Carter Cunningham, Sarak Laskin, Sumair Nibber, Jack Pinkert, and Timur Sholokhov.
Congratulations to the entire Awty Chess Team including Timur Sholokhov, Julian Blanco, Jack Pinkert, Célian Butré, Sumair Nibber, Jose Mendoza, Stephen Wells, Jacob Berg, Carter Cunningham, Melvin Cruz, Yian Wong, and Joe Li, as well as their faculty sponsors Mr. Lucas Anderson and Mr. Anton Truong. On May 11, the team flew to Nashville to compete in SuperNationals VI, the national championship for scholastic chess in the United States. This tournament included over 5,500 players, making it the largest rated tournament ever held in the world. We entered two teams in the competition, consisting of the following players:
K-12 U1900: Yian Wong, Stephen Wells, Jacob Berg, Jason Yao, Jose Mendoza
K-12 U1200: Carter Cunningham, Julian Blanco, Sumair Nibber, Melvin Cruz, Joe Li, Celian Butre, Jack Pinkert, Timur Sholokhov
In addition, Saheb Nibber (5th grade) competed in the K-12 U800 division.
Players competed in seven games over three days, each lasting up to four hours. At the end, Stephen Wells tied for 10th place in his division, and our U1900 team finished 10th in the nation (the U1200 team finished 26th). Click here to view photos from the trip.
KINDER STUDENT RECEIVES POP STAR AWARD
Congratulations to Kinder student Ajay Shah! He has been chosen as the Pop Star Award recipient for the 2017 CKW LUXE Star Awards. He will receive his award on May 26 at the Asia Society. He will also be featured in the 2017 Summer/Fall edition of CKW LUX Magazine, a philanthropic, inspirational, and quality living magazine. At the age of 4, Ajay published his first book titled, "Ajay and the Bumblebee Man Save the World". Ajay is donating 100% of the sales from his first published book to Texas Children’s Heart Foundation and Texas Children’s Hospital. He wants to be a cardiologist like his father and would like to help children with heart disease. Click here to read more about Ajay.
BOYS TENNIS TEAM CLAIMS STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
Congratulations to Awty's Tennis Teams! The boys’ team won the 2017 TAPPS State Championship, and the girls’ team placed fifth in State. The following students placed individually: Vivek Saran, 10th grade, placed second in Boys Singles, 10th graders Pranay Palvadi and Sherwin Rasekh placed second in Boys Doubles, and Riya Sahni, 10th grade, placed third in Girls Singles.
AWTY ROBOTICS TEAM QUALIFIES FOR WORLDS
In April, the Awtybots, Awty’s robotics team, traveled to Strake Jesuit for a regional FRC competition. Based on the performance and qualifications of the teams in the finals, The Awtybots claimed a qualification for the FRC World Championship in Houston.
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Photo courtesy of Anton Truong.
While Awty's team did not place in the World Championship, they should be congratulated on a job well done in an FRC Robotics season of many FIRSTS:
- Recruiting cycle which brought in over 20 students this year
- First year under the new Awty STEAM initiative
- First year with an on-campus workshop
- Regional Finalist - Silver Medal
- World Championships Qualification & Participation
Congratulations to the entire robotics team on a great year including students Uri Baron, Mark Baumstein, Alioune Behe, Jacob Berg, Alex Brown, Mevsim Denktas, Helen Hastings, Eddie Hirs, Alex Lloyd, Mercedes Matthews-Elston, Renee Neufer, and Zoe Papadakos; teacher sponsor Anton Truong; and volunteer mentors Solomon Benghan, Paul Chaguine, Harry Craig, Xavier Eldridge, and Jordan Favret.
AWTY IS RANKED 4TH IN STATE FOR MUSIC
Awty’s student musicians had a very successful experience at the TAPPS State Instrumental Music Contest, held April 20 at Houston Baptist University. The Wind Ensemble earned the second highest ranking for their concert performance and the highest ranking for their sight reading performance. The Jazz Ensemble earned the highest ranking for their concert performance. Thanks to the combined efforts of the very talented students in both the Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble, Awty is now ranked 4th in the state!
In addition, we congratulate the following band students for earning the highest rating (superior) in the TAPPS Solo and Ensemble Contest: Suleyman Amjad, Marcos Botto, Alex Lloyd – Clarinet Trio – At the Puppet Show; Erkan Bozkurt – Piano Solo – Clair de Lune; Lulu Duchini, Ginevra Fenoglio, Ieuan Smithard, Connor Wright, Hamza Zulquernain – Percussion Ensemble – Homecoming Parade; Natalie Hackman – Piano Solo – Chopin Waltz; Layla Hanusic – Piano Solo – 2 Bach Partitas; Daphne Panagos – Timpani Solo – Grand Teton; Dominic Zambonini – Timpani Solo – Rondino; and Karina Sawyer – Alto Saxophone Solo – Gershwin Fantasy.
ART STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN PROFESSIONAL ART EXHIBITION
Several Awty art students participated in the professional art exhibition entitled France Pavilion on March 2-5, including juniors Alexandra Anderson, Anastasia Chajecki, Nada Gaber, Isabelle Jefferis, Brinn MacRae, Gabriella Murdoch, Selin Oney, Erykah Pedro, Alice Spadini, Taddeo Toffanin, Zoey Willoughby, and Jason Yao, and sophomores Gulara Alaskarova, Doreen Cai, Alejandra Gerlach, Gabriella Gonzalez, Esha Gullapalli, Ynes Kang, George Kapitan, Nikki Noie, Cody Peng, Ava Pleczko, Sophia Pivnik, Katherine Quezada, and Elena Toffani.
Photo courtesy of Angela Maxwell.
