GFA news
Von Kohorn Address This year’s Von Kohorn speaker was math teacher, Jon Matte. In a presentation that touched upon how to find oneself, where to fit in, how to stand out, how to be happy and how to handle a Möbius Strip, Mr. Matte entertained and instructed his audience. His finale was an a cappella rendition of “It’s Not Easy Being Green”.
Real Life 101 Seniors can now get a glimpse of college life before they graduate from high school. The College Office introduced a seminar to talk about banking, credit cards, budgets and security as well as auto maintenance, public transportation, campus vans and what to do if your car breaks down. And that was just one session. Another focused on visiting the campus health center, hospitals, healthy eating, substance abuse, drinking, general health and campus safety as well as roommates, R.A.s, dorm security and privacy. Along with a suggested reading list and Web links, the seminar goes a long way toward de-mystifying the practicalities of freshman year.
Science Awards At the Junior Science and Humanities Symposia (JSHS), seniors Elizabeth Woodson, Allison Kruk and Kaitlyn Morio were granted Finalist status out of over one hundred projects entered. At the Connecticut Science Fair (CSF), two projects were granted Poster Finalist status out of over 500 projects entered: Allison Kruk’s The Investigation of the Biological Health of the New Creek Salt Marsh through Water Quality Testing and Species Identification of Benthic Invertebrates and Kaitlyn Morio’s Characterization of Nickel and Copper Complexes Using NMR, and X-ray Diffraction, and Cyclic Voltametry. Allison also earned Finalist status in the Environmental Sciences category and won other recognition such as The GENIUS Olympiad Special Award—an all-expense paid trip to the international competition for top Biodiversity projects. Currently, there are five juniors and one sophomore at GFA already working toward next year’s projects.
The Bruce Fishkin Scholarship Fund From Cal Fishkin ’95 comes a great opportunity, named for his dad, for high school juniors and seniors. The Bruce Fishkin Scholarship Fund is in search of outstanding students. Formed in 2010, the Fund covers the entire cost of a college education and is in search of “high school students who seek to challenge themselves to succeed and accomplish what most people never imagine. Selection is primarily based upon each recipient’s answer to three essay questions. Awards are not predicated upon need, but rather on ability, individuality and potential. If you have always known deep inside that given the chance, you’d achieve greatness, well, here’s your chance.” The Board anticipates awarding two to six scholarships annually to students enrolled at high schools in one or more of the following areas: Redding, Fairfield and Westport, CT and the cities and surrounding suburbs of Chicago, Illinois and Las Vegas, Nevada.
Spring Coyle Scholar On May 10, the spring Coyle Scholar is Dr. Joia Mukherjee. She has written of her work: “In the face of the AIDS and TB pandemics, I pursued the specialties of Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Infectious Disease as well as training in Public Health to bring the fruits of modern medical treatment to places in desperate need. Since 2000, I have served on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and as the Medical Director of Partners In Health (PIH). In this capacity, I lead a multidisciplinary, transnational team in nine countries in the design of systems to treat patients for HIV and TB.” GFA is honored to host her and to continue the school’s engagement with Partners In Health.
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