How Do You Spell Success?

March 30, 2009 - For the third year running, a Penn Alexander School student will represent the City of Philadelphia in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee, held in Washington, D.C., in May.

This year's winner, sixth-grader Sowsan Salaam, won the Philadelphia Tribune/Scripps Howard Regional Spelling Bee by nailing the word ubiquitous. Salaam, who competed against 29 fifth- through eighth-graders from schools around the city, was a finalist in last year's regional but tripped up on the word belligerent

At the Science Fair 


Salaam's fellow students extended the winning PAS tradition at the 2009 George Washington Carver Science Fair. In the grades 7-12 competition, PAS students took home 12 awards, including three first-place awards, while in the Lower School competition, 13 of the awards were given to PAS students.

Among the winners were two participants in the ITEST-nano collaboration between GSE, Penn's Nano-Bio Interface Center, and the School District of Philadelphia. Sarita Saju took placed first in chemistry for her Super Capacitors project, which grew out of her work in the Penn lab of Jorge Santiago-Aviles.

In addition, Mehzubin Munshi, who participated in the Nano Summer Camp,  placed second in the Carver fair for the Effect of pH on a Memory Alloy. Both students will proceed to the Delaware Valley Science Fair.

According to Susan Yoon, Saju's success is "a direct result" of their involvement with the nano project. Yoon and Santiago-Aviles are co-PIs on the ITEST-nano project.

1st place
Mitchell Berven-Stotz (GR5) - Physical Science
Ella Comberg (GR5) - Consumer Science
Andrew Foronda (GR7) - Physics
Gwendolyn Franklin (GR7) - Earth Science
Hannah Hanson (GR4) - Life Science
Isaiah McQueen, Camille Coleman, and Ruby Johnston (GR5) - Team Project
Joseph Owusu-Boateng (GR8) - Engineering

2nd Place
Dylan Yachyshen (GR4) - Physical Science

3rd Place
Maya Culbertson (GR8) - Medicine
Douglas Warnock (GR8) - Engineering
Umar Farooqi (GR8) - Microbiology
Francis Haas (GR8) - Consumer Science

Honorable Mention
Sarah Neukrug (GR 7)
Alexander Dittmar (GR7)
Abdalla Abou-Hatab (GR8)
Maxwell Gontarek (GR8)
Ella Petersen (GR4)
Paul Lorenc (GR5)
Cordelia Ilton (GR6)  

Special Awards
Abdalla Abou-Hatab (GR8) - Cobbs Creek Environmental Award
Cordelia Ilton (GR6) - The Academy of Natural Sciences Environmental Award
Camille Coleman, Ruby Johnston, and Isaiah McQueen (GR5) - Educational Advancement Alliance for Excellence in Science
Ella Serpell (GR5) - 1st Place Humane Science Award
Ella Comberg (GR5) - Women in Science & Engineering Award
Dylan Yachyshen (GR4) - Naval Science Award & Vince Russo Award for Excellence in Data Presentation

For the complete list of winners at the 2009 Carver Science Fair, click here.

College Bound

Last, and certainly not least, Penn Alexander first graduates--members of its Class of 2005--have been receiving college acceptances this spring. To date, two PAS alums will be attending Penn this fall, with their classmates getting the nod from Drexel, Penn State, Pitt, Stanford, and Villanova.


Media contact: Jill DiSanto-Haines at 215-898-4820 or jdisanto@upenn.edu