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Moment of Genius Awards 2021
Please join us in celebrating and honoring the following students who have been recognized, whose scope of genius literally knows no bounds!
Mia Starr '23Our last Moment of Genius was nominated by Ms. Eagle, who shared, "While another student completed her final and saw that she had one question wrong about how to sign birth rank in ASL, Mia stepped in with a 'Moment of Genius' and explained how birth rank looks in ASL. If it's three siblings including herself, she'd point her thumb first. If it was 4 siblings, she'd point her index finger first down to the pinky. The other student really understood her explanation. ASL GENIUS!" Congrats Mia! |
Lauren Herriges '24We are excited to honor Lauren Herriges for her recent "Moment of Genius" in Mr. Chipps’ Biology class last week. When asked "Why are there more tuskless elephants in Gorongosa National Park than other elephant populations?", Lauren offered a well thought out alternative hypothesis that human oversight in Gorongosa has perhaps enabled this population of animals to succeed without tusks. |
Seven Students on Student CouncilTeachers at Central would like to honor the panel of student leaders that shared their experiences, deep wisdom, and learnings with all the staff last Tuesday morning. They were so insightful and honest and really opened the eyes and deepened the learning of many teachers. It took courage to speak openly and candidly about difficult topics like racism and they are amazing role models for what antiracist leadership in action looks like.Lauren Stemple • Vivian Nguyen • Taliya Hunter • Laila Jones Vickers • Jack Harpster • Thomas Ferroggiaro • Claire Krebs |
Quincy Scott '25We would like to recognize Quincy Scott for his Moment of Genius. His teacher Mr. McMonagle shared, "We were talking about having control in our lives based on our discussion of the Lord's Prayer. We were talking about how we, as humans, like to think that we are in control of almost everything. A student asked how that will work in Heaven and Quincy Scott said, 'It seems to me that we have to get past that idea of being in control before we can enter the Kingdom.' I said, 'Quincy that is exactly right, did everyone hear that?' It was a great moment on a Friday afternoon." Congrats Quincy! |
We would like to give a collective Moment of Genius Award to this year's ConTeam, for their amazing run all the way to Nationals this year. Mr. Stuckart would also like to acknowledge the Unit 5 team for their incredible performance in DC. He shared that it was the best hearing he has ever seen and he has seen a lot. Congrats to these students in Unit 5: Abby McMonagle • Carmela Valdez • Emma Watson • Katie Stolberg • Rowyn O'Connor • Sean Nickerson CLICK HERE if you would like to watch Unit 5's hearing. |
We would like to recognize Karhma DeWeese and Owen Hanson for their many "Moments of Genius" during our week-long ice cream sale. Ms. Bush shared, "Both students took leadership in managing their teams, helping their classmates problem solve, and thinking outside of the box. There were many bumps and curve balls with this project and in these moments I could overhear these students referencing their own work experience and the content knowledge discussed in class. They inspired their teams to successfully raise money for the RAMs program." Congrats, Karhma and Owen!
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Ester Iaccarino '24We would like to recognize Esther Iaccarino for her moment of genius in Mr. Kraus' Wellness class. Mr. Kraus shared, "We were discussing the topic of mental health in class and she did a tremendous job of being engaged and challenging me to look deeper into the topic of behavioral disorders and its connection to antisocial behavior. After some healthy back and forth, we were able to come to a better understanding of the topic." Congrats Esther!
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Lakely Doht-Barron '23Lakely Doht-Barron was nominated by Ms. Abbot, who shared, "At the beginning of the year I gave my students an extra credit assignment to write an essay for the Minoru Yasui Student Essay contest. I had multiple students write and submit essays, but Lakely went above and beyond - she chose to write her essay on the work that Taylor Stewart does, and actually reached out to him via Instagram to get more information for her paper. It was a truly excellent essay. Her hard work was recognized by the Minoru Yasui Foundation, and she was chosen as a finalist." Congrats Lakely! |
Sarah-Marie Chu was nominated by Ms. Saltveit, who wrote, "During a review session for an upcoming assessment, Sarah-Marie made sure that all the members of her learning team understood all the concepts. Additionally, there was a particularly challenging problem. The students had the option to go over this problem as a class, but Sarah-Marie and another student wanted to try it for themselves. Sarah-Marie Chu put her work up on the board and worked every step through." We are excited to honor her for her attention to detail as well as her courage to try a very challenging problem! |
Hugo Ruiz Martinez is recognized for his "Moment of Genius" in Ms. Cole's English class. She shared, "I was very impressed with how Hugo was able to apply his lived experiences and perspectives to strengthen his and his peers' comprehension and appreciation of The House on Mango Street. His voice in his writing has also continued to show his creativity and ability to channel his humor and personality into words. I look forward to hearing his voice emerge even more this year!"
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Cooper Olsen was nominated by Mr. Ward, who noted that he and his whole class recognized his moment of genius as he was sharing his Shine project on music theory recently. He says, "His ability to teach with passion and bring such warmth into his topic about students in class was amazing. He told others what note he associated with their personality. He allowed others to participate up front with him. His ability to dissect music and speak about the colonial influences of music theory was BRILLIANT! I literally stopped class and stated that we were in the presence of genius."
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To kick off our "Moment of Genius" awards recognition, Mr. Stuckart's Government and Politics class is recognizing Emar'rion Winston. Mr. Stuckart shared, "Beginning our discussions of First Amendment freedoms, I always have my classes raise their hands to vote for which freedom is most important: Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, or Petition. No one ever chooses Freedom of Assembly. Ever. Not in 11 years has anyone chosen it. However, last week, a single student raised their hand to vote for Freedom of Assembly as the most important. When asked to explain why, this student shared that he had seen and participated in several protests over the past few years. He shared that he saw the right to gather, in large numbers, as an expression of the fundamental power of the people in our political system." Thanks for sharing a different perspective and expanding our worldview with a brilliant new way of looking at this freedom! |
Evelien Pham was nominated by Ms. Tokoyoda, who shared, "On Wellness Wednesday, Evelien Pham emailed asking if she can bring cupcakes for all her classmates. I didn't think much of it and said yes. She came into class the next day with the cupcakes AND a YouTube video of her baking and speaking in Japanese! :) We had just finished a unit on cooking in Japanese III. She said she spent the Wellness Day doing what she enjoys and applying the language we learned in class into practice, without this being assigned and not asking for extra credit and sharing her passion for language and baking with the class." CLICK HERE to view Evelien's video. |
Constitution Team - Unit 5
Karhma DeWeese '24 and Owen Hanson '24
Sarah-Marie Chu '24
Hugo Ruiz Martinez '25
Cooper Olsen '22
Emar'rion Winston '22
Evelien Pham '23