Through the Doors
As part of the award, The Rubicon also received four marks of distinction for Coverage/Content, Writing, Layout/Design, and Leadership. In their critique of the paper, the NSPA judges wrote, “Across the pages, the exceptional news publication elements shout out to the readers. Most importantly, the coverage, content and writing reflect a professional publication of which the staff and the student body, administrators, and community can be so proud. There is a lot of journalistic talent on The Rubicon staff.” The Rubicon, which is recognized as one of the country’s best high school newspapers, has been honored by NSPA previously. In both 2011 and 2010, the paper was awarded a national First Place ranking from the NSPA for each of the previous year’s series of issues. This year’s All-American Award is one tier above a First Place ranking and represents the highest critiqued honor the NSPA bestows. “I am so inspired by how the students constantly push themselves to improve,” says Rubicon advisor and Upper School English teacher Kathryn Campbell. “They never settle for doing things the way they’ve always done them. This award is a validation of how our students run this publication and I’m so excited to see how it will inspire them to improve.”
2
SPA | Fall 2012 | Winter 2013
Ten members of SPA’s Class of 2013 have been named National Merit Semifinalists. Nationally, less than 1 percent of high school seniors are awarded Semifinalist recognition. National Merit Semifinalists are determined by Preliminary SAT (PSAT) scores; according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, about 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2013 National Merit competition by taking the PSATs. Semifinalists are those students who scored the highest on the exam in each state.
Ami Berger
The Rubicon, SPA’s student newspaper, won an All-American Award from the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) for its 2011-12 series of issues.
Ten seniors named National Merit Semifinalists
SPA’s Semifinalists are (pictured above, front row, left to right) Marie Siliciano, Melanie Luikart, Clara Stahlmann Roeder, Mara Walli, Noah Shavit-Lonstein, (back row, left to right), Ibad Jafri, Henry Swanson, Sam Wood, Hagop Toghramadjian, and Francesco Di Caprio. These students now have the opportunity to continue in the competition for more than 8,300 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $32 million, which will be awarded in the spring of 2013. To advance to the Finalist level of the competition, Semifinalists must submit an application and essay, have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by their high school principal, and earn SAT scores that confirm the earlier performance on the PSAT.
Advanced Research students present findings Four students from SPA’s Seminar in Advanced Research presented their research to the community on December 5. The students pursued their research projects as part of a course offered this fall by Upper School science teacher Beth Seibel-Hunt. To enroll in the course, students underwent an interview process which included the presentation of a project proposal for the Upper School science faculty’s approval. The four students and their projects are (pictured left to right): Gina Nguyen ’13, “Exploring Genetic Testing”; Asher Szachowicz ’13, “Hand Sanitizer Resistance in Non-Pathogenic E. coli Bacteria”; Clara Stahlmann Roeder ’13, “White Rot Fungus Pre-Treatment to Enhance Ethanol Biofuel Production”; Ian Rolf ’13, “Lake Pore Water Sampling Using a Remotely Operated Vehicle.”
Ami Berger
The Rubicon wins top honors for 2011-12 series