Quest Academy Student Achievements 2010

Quest Academy Student Achievements 2009-2010

art shows science fair math competitions music competitions FIRST LEGO Leaguecross country  volleyball soccer basketball track  leadership scholastic bowlchess club  destination imagination  Chinese

Math Latin School Math Competition: This year was one of our best performances at Latin.

Illinois Math League (IML): All middle school students participate. The top five scores from each grade make a team and teams compete statewide. According to the IML, scores above 15 should be commended. All Quest scores were above 15. The contest says that few students score above 30; many of our students score above 30.

5th Grade Team: 2nd Place - Matthew McDermott, Jack Badalamenti, Jacob Clorfene, and Taylor Erickson placed 2nd. Individually, Jacob Clorfene tied for 2nd place.

6th Grade Team: 1st - Jacob Clorfene (5th gr) 36; 2nd - Amanda Fiddler 34, Connor Puritz 34, Abigail Pirron 34, Birkan Cetinkaya 34.

7th Grade Team: 1st - Max Kontorovich 37, 2nd Charlie Strausser 36 and Han Lee 36; 3rd - Ian Ford 35, Advith Chelikani 35.

8th Grade Team: 1st - Gary Chen 38; 2nd - Sanika Bhargaw 37; 3rd - Zack Hebebrand 36 and Mack Lee 36; 4th - Anna Winter 35.

Noetic Learning Math Contest (Grades 2-5): For the past two years, we have offered this competition to lower school students.

Grade 2: 14 participants. Ella Burns was the team winner. She and Mitchell Brown made the honor roll. Scotty Vrablik, Muskan Bhatla, Trevor Petrin, and Aarushi Verma received honorable mention.

7th Grade Team: 1st Place - Max Kontorovich, Han Lee, Charlie Strausser, and Advith Chelikani. Individually, Han Lee placed 1st.

Grade 3: Six participants. Varun Putcha was the team winner and made the honor roll along with Christopher Paik. Nayonika Roy, Sonya Gupta, Shaan Thakkar received honorable mention.

Grade 4: Six participants. Rierson Johnson was the team winner and made the honor roll along with Ryan Ford and Matthew Han. Tiffany Hugh and Anthony Passarelli received honorable mention.

Grade 5: Jacob Clorfene was the team winner and made the honor roll.

Science

8th Grade Team: 1st Place - Max Farbman, Zack Hebebrand, Mack Lee, and Gary Chen. Individually, Gary Chen placed 1st and Mack Lee placed 2nd.

Regional Math Counts Competition: Quest took 2nd place

out of 30 schools, including an individual 6th place for Gary Chen, 12th place for Zack Hebebrand, and 13th place for Advith Chelikani.

State Math Counts Competition: Quest took 6th out 250 schools (participating in Math Counts overall), including an individual 27th place for Han Lee, 28th for Gary Chen, and 29th for Zack Hebebrand.

This year, sixty-five seventh & eighth grade students participated in science fair. A a rating of outstanding was earned by twenty-two students at our school science fair and they advanced to the regional level. We joined 40 other school, for a total of 600 projects, at regional fair. Twenty-one Quest students participated at the regional fair, all receiving medals and five special awards were given to individual projects. Once again, Quest came home with first place in the division for the third time (IJAS Region 6 is the largest region in the state).

Fourteen students advanced to the state science fair; thirteen students participated, all receiving medals and two receiving special awards.

Another amazing science fair year!

School Science Fair 7th Grade Outstanding: Charli Beam, Logan Beck, Courtney Capra, Ian Ford, Selena Groh, Max Kontorovich, Max Mansfield, Brandon Suchyta. High First: Rachel Blumenthal, Advith Chelikani.

8th Grade Outstanding: Taylor Almeraz, Natalie Brottman, Gary Chen, Max Farbman, Dany Kofman, Sammy Levey, Briggs Mroz, Morgan Mroz, Samantha Pearsall, Abigail Raymaker, Anushka Vazirani, Anna Winter.

Special Awards (State Fair):

Regional Science Fair Bronze Level Award: Gary Chen.

Silver Level Award: Taylor Almeraz, Charli Beam, Natalie Brottman, Max Farbman, Dany Kofman, Max Mansfield, Morgan Mroz.

Gold Level Award: Logan Beck, Rachel Blumenthal, Courtney Capra, Advith Chelikani, Ian Ford, Selena Groh, Max Kontorovich, Sammy Levey, Briggs Mroz, Samantha Pearsall, Abigail Raymaker, Brandon Suchyta, Anushka Vazirani, Anna Winter.

Special Awards (Regional Fair): Brandon Suchyta: American Association of Zookeepers: Certificate of Achievement for an Outstanding Science Project. (see photo under state awards)

Anna Winter: Southern Microbiology Association for her work with Cinnamomum zeylanicum as an antibacterial agent.

Courtney Capra: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association: Taking the Pulse of the Planet award.

Logan Beck: American Statistical Association: Best Use of Statistics in an IJAS Region 6 Science Project.

Brandon Suchyta: Best In Category in Zoology for his work with oneway ant trails.

Illinois Grade School Music Association

Several eighth graders participated in the Illinois Grade School Music Association solo/ensemble contest. The students are scored against a standard, and receive a rating of 1+, 1, 2, or 3. Students are rated on musical characteristics such as intonation, tone quality, phrasing, memorization, and musicality. Our students did quite well: Max Kontorovich: Air Force - Certificate of Achievement and Best in Category Aerospace

Clarinet solo Vocal solo

Vocal trio

Dany Kofman (1) Libby Anderson(1), Sanika Bhargaw (1), Cameron Neath (1), Andrea Nicholson, (1+), Abi Raymaker (1+), Anna Winter (1) Abi, Sanika, Andrea (1)

Our middle school has three choir groups (Grades 5 through 8) Bella Voce (girls), Benton Street Boys and Chamber Choir all earned the rating of 1 (the highest rating) at the IGSMA Regional and State Contests.

State Science Fair All 13 students received awards, two students received additional special recognition.

Silver Level Award: Ian Ford, Anna Winter Gold Level Award: Logan Beck, Rachel Blumenthal, Courtney Capra, Advith Chelikani, Selena Groh, Max Kontorovich, Sammy Levey, Samantha Pearsall. Abigail Raymaker, Brandon Suchyta, Anushka Vazirani,

Spelling Bee

Midwest Chinese Teacher’s Alliance Speech Contest (MCTA)

The 36 participants in the 2010 Quest Spelling Bee are listed below. In grades 1-3, students participated in classrooms bees followed by a Lower School Mini Bee; grades 4-5 won their classroom bees; grades 6-8 took part in grade-wide bees. The winner of our spelling bee was Cameron Neath, with Amer Sadek as the runner up.

Three students participated in the MCTA speech contest. There were a total of 126 students this year, double the number of last year. Eighth grader,

Grades 1-3 George Granskog Nicole Dai Aubrey Landau Vikram Marmer Chris Paik Tara Weil

Grade 5 Matthew McDermott Nolan Marchi Ben Bradley Colin Groh Sydney Erickson Kate Light

Grade 7 Amer Sadek Noah Woerner Owen Chang Peter Griswold Arjun Roy Selena Groh

Grade 4 Emme Puritz Sarah Griswold Rierson Johnson Tiana Marks Tiffany Hugh Sara Papa

Grade 6 Nikhila Gundimeda Connor Puritz Mansoor Ahmed Amanda Fiddler Tricia Black Jacob Marcheschi

Grade 8 Anna Winter Sammy Levey Cameron Neath Gary Chen Libby Anderson Michael Torres

Anna Winter won a gold medal in the middle school beginning level division. Sixth grader Megan Ford won a silver medal in the middle school beginning level division. Second grader Kelly Murphy won a silver medal in the lower school beginning level.

Destination Imagination (DI) Quest Academy middle school students won the Destination Imagination 2010 Global Tournament, held May 26-30, in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Scholastic Bowl

Our second season participating in Scholastic Bowl was fun and competitive. Our record at the end of the season was six wins and six losses. Twenty-two students joined the team this year. The team earned the Best Small School Trophy at the Barrington Invitational Tournament and 2nd place medallions at the IESA Regional Tournament, hosted by Quest.

At the Destination Imagination Global Finals, the Quest Academy team “Gnome Pun Intended” took first place.

There were 78 teams in the Global Final middle school level challenge. Overall, there were students from 49 states and 37 countries that participated in the Global Final Tournament.

The members of the Quest Destination Imagination Team were: Max Farbman, Sarah Grubbe, Tyler Johnson, Briggs Mroz, and Morgan Mroz. This team has been participating in the Destination Imagination Program since the second grade.

The team took first place at the State DI Tournament for the fifth time.

This is unprecedented in the state. Additionally, the team was asked to be an ambassador of the tournament. They did a magnificent job explaining the benefits of the DI program to the CEO of Destination Imagination, the State of Illinois delegates, the corporate representative from Motorola, and numerous church and school representatives looking to start a Destination Imagination Program.

Our team was also asked to perform an encore performance of their long-term challenge solution.

Birkan Cetinkaya (Grade 6), participated on a secondary level DI team, whose team members came from a variety of schools.

This team also earned the opportunity to attend the Global Finals by securing second place at the State Tournament.

This year we also had a Rising Stars team (ages 4-7). This team, the DI Buddies, consists of Kathryn King, Elizabeth King, Lily Reader, Addy Reader, Maddie Dickerson, Grace Park, and Amelia Cook.

The team practiced every week on their challenge, “Weighty News.”

They built a structure out of newspapers and tape, created a newscast about their structure, and were required to create a commercial on the benefits of eating healthily. The DI Buddies participated in the regional tournament and did very well, and are considering stepping up a level next year and competing with a chance to attend the Global Tournament.

Chess Club

Quest offers an after school Chess Club run

by Yury Schulman’s International Chess School. Grandmaster Shulman organizes several tournaments in the area, most designed to raise money for charity. Our Cub Scout pack helped coordinate a Quest team for tournaments.

They have had a great year: Barbara Rose School Tournament - 1st Place Primary Division Elgin Academy Tournament - 2nd Place Primary Division Hough Street School Tournament - 2nd Place Primary Division Arlington Heights Tournament - 2nd Place Primary Division

Art

FIRST LEGO League(FLL)

Best Seats in Town: Students helped create a bench for Palatine’s Best Seats in Town. Art teacher Hether Hoffmann designed the bench and worked with middle school students to create a beautiful park bench. The benches were auctioned and you will find our bench in front of Palatine Bank & Trust on Palatine Road.

Quest’s team, the Toyminators, has made it to the FLL state competition all three years they have been together. This year they won 2nd place in the technical category for their robot’s design.

Art Shows: Positive Strokes Art School & Gallery hosted an exhibit of student work for two weeks in May. Over 100 pieces were on display. The Palatine Public Library exhibited our student work in June 2010.

Team Members: Tricia Black, Graham Erbs, Birkin Cetinkaya, Jonah Gertz, Tony Trufanov, Jacob Clorfene. Coaches: Keith Black, Jim Erbs

Leadership Camps

The following middle school students attended People to People Leadership Program this year: Megan Ford (Grade 6), Nikhila Gundimeda (Grade 6), Barrett Neath (Grade 6), and Abigail Pirron (Grade 6).

Artsonia: Artsonia is an online student art museum.

Soccer

The boys’ fourteen player soccer team had a record of seven wins and three losses this year. (Grades 5-8). The team participated in two tournaments - taking 2nd place in the Fox Valley Athletic Conference Tournament.

Volleyball

The JV girls’ team ended the season with a record of six wins, six losses. The Varsity girls’ team had a 31win, 10 loss season. The Varsity team participated in two tournaments, taking 5th place at the Christian Liberty Tournament and 2nd place in the Fox Valley Athletic Conference Tournament.

Cross Country

Ten students from 5th though 8th grade ran this year. The girls team* qualified for the state meet - the first time Quest had a team qualify.

Charli Beam (7) Sarah Fisher* (6) Ian Ford (7) Jordan Gregg*(5) Micheala Jurewicz (6)

Mack Lee (8) Briggs Mroz* (8) Morgan Mroz* (8) Abi Raymaker* (8) Anna Winter* (8)

Basketball

Quest’s basketball program includes Grades 5-8, boys’ and girls’ teams, with a total of 41 students participating. Varsity boys took 1st place at the Fox Valley Athletic Conference Tournament. Varsity girls took 2nd place in the Fox Valley Athletic Conference (FVAC) Tournament.

The combined record of all teams was 49 wins, 35 losses. The breakdown by team is: JV Girls 3 wins, 4 losses (.428) Varsity Girls 11 wins, 5 losses (.687) 5th-6th Boys 7 wins, 16 losses (.304) 7th Boys 11 wins, 6 losses (.647) Varsity Boys 17 wins, 4 losses (.809) In tournament play: Varsity Girls 2nd -FVAC Girls Invitational Tournament 5th-6th Boys 4th - Immanuel Des Plaines Tournament Varsity Boys 1st - FVAC Conference Tournament

2nd - Immanuel Des Plaines Tournament

Track

The track team participated in four meets plus the regional meet.

Quest had runners in the 100M, 200M, 400M, 800M, 1600M, 100M hurdles, and 1 x 400M relay. Field events included high jump, long jump, shot put and discus throw. Two students qualified for state.

Charli Beam (Grade 7) became the first student from Quest Academy to medal at the state level in track. Charli had the fastest two times in the state this year in the 100M hurdles, winning both the Prelims and Semis at the state meet. She was also faster than last years’ winning time and came in 8th in the finals. Charli also qualified to run in the 200M run. In this event she was able to move up in the state ranking. Her state time was faster than her sectional time.

Morgan Mroz (Grade 8) made her first appearance on the state track scene this year by placing in the 800M at the sectional meet. Morgan improved her time and her place ranking in the state in this event.

Mission Quest Academy provides gifted children with a challenging curriculum and a nurturing environment. Our program emphasizes sound character along with scholarship and creativity in both the academics and the arts. The Quest community values the individuality of each child and encourages each to strive for personal excellence.

Our Belief Statements We believe this about Giftedness 1. Giftedness is exceptional intellectual, physical, creative, and/or affective capacity that can be transformed into extraordinary ability.

2. Giftedness is domain-specific - it may occur predominantly in one or more domains, such as the arts, mathematics, or language - but can be enhanced in all domains.

3. Giftedness is best identified and cultivated by means of thorough and multifaceted assessment.

4. Giftedness may involve asynchronous development and does not preclude exceptionalities.

5. Giftedness is best nurtured by an environment that provides continuous intellectual stimulation and creative engagement within a community of like-minded peers and supportive adults.

We believe this about Learning 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Learning is a critical process to growth and development.

Learning is integral to a healthy and productive life.

Learning requires taking risks, challenging one’s ideas and beliefs, and putting forth effort.

Learning is most effective when it involves the intellectual, social, physical, emotional, and creative domains.

Learning can be catalyzed by competition but must be measured relative to the self.

We believe this about Teaching Gifted Students 1. Curriculum that first emphasizes conceptual understandings and applications facilitates the subsequent successful retention of discreet knowledge and specific skills.

2. Assessment that is differentiated and involves ongoing and meaningful feedback facilitates the learning process.

3. Learning environments that provide interaction with other gifted students promote intellectual stimulation and healthy socialization.

4. Learning experiences that involve challenge, problem-solving, and reflection ensure greater student engagement and intellectual risk-taking.

5. The most effective teachers have expertise in gifted education and can differentiate curriculum, assessment, learning environments and learning experiences.

500 North Benton, Palatine, IL 60067 847.202.8035 questacademy.org