The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

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Behind the Scenes of Horace Greeley’s First Science Olympiad Invitational

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Chloe Ng and Erin Song

Over the past few years, Science Olympiad has become a major extracurricular activity for many students in Chappaqua. Science Olympiad is considered the premier team STEM competition in the nation, providing standards-based challenges to 6,000 teams at 425 tournaments in all 50 states. Teams of 15 students compete in pairs in 23 different topics, called “events”, which cover a wide array of science areas. The competition not only gives students opportunities to learn about areas of science that would not normally be covered in traditional school curriculum, but also emphasizes the importance of collaboration and problem-solving in STEM fields.

After witnessing the impact of COVID-19 on Science Olympiad tournaments, Chloe Ng and Erin Song, longtime Science Olympiad competitors as well as current rising seniors at Horace Greeley High School, founded the Horace Greeley Invitational (“HG Invitational”) in summer 2022. HG Invitational is an online tournament for the middle school division that acts as practice run for teams preparing for their regional and state tournaments.  It was one of the few sanctioned Science Olympiad tournaments in New York State this year. One of the most unique characteristics of the invitational was that home-schooled students were able to compete as well, an opportunity usually not provided.

“We wanted to create a competition that replicated the Science Olympiad tournament experience that we missed out during the COVID-19 pandemic while also providing an opportunity for competitors to gain a deeper understanding of their Science Olympiad events,” says HG Invitational Co-Organizer Chloe Ng.

Ng and Song spent about nine months organizing and preparing to host the tournament. In addition, they managed a team of sixteen other Horace Greeley students who volunteered to help write and grade tests and act as event supervisors for over 20 different events.

One major challenge of creating HG Invitational, according to HG Invitational Co-Organizer Erin Song, was that “We had to build the tournament from scratch.” This type of tournament had never been done in the Westchester area before, so the team had to figure out everything, from competition week logistics to team finances, on their own.

Although the planning process was challenging, Song and Ng’s hard work paid off, as the tournament was a massive success. Over 500 students participated from schools in New York, California, Washington, and more. It also raised over $2,000 from tournament fees for Horace Greeley High School’s Science Olympiad academic team, of which Ng and Song are captains.

Meadow Zhang, a test creator and grader for the invitational, explains that her main goal was to “give students a variety of question types to prepare them for Regionals and States.” Zhang mentioned that the HG Invitational was well run and the team was thoughtful to make it intuitive and well designed.

In some ways, Ng comments, organizing this tournament was like creating a startup. “We had an idea, pitched it to school administrators who had to sign off for it to be sanctioned by New York State Science Olympiad, raised capital to jumpstart the tournament, and had customers (middle school Science Olympiad teams) for whom we had to provide a good experience,” says Ng. “In many ways, this was not just about Science for me but also gave me insights into business management and administration.” Incidentally, the Seven Bridges Middle School Science Olympiad Team which placed 1st in the HG Invitational did amazingly well this past season, placing 2nd in the New York State tournament, thereby earning a spot for the National Tournament for the first time in all of Chappaqua Central School District history.

Song and Ng are looking forward to repeating their Invitational tournament in 2024 and have been thinking about ways to improve the student experience even more. For next year, “Setting a timeline is one of our main goals,” the two have stated.  Additionally, Song says, “We look forward to potentially expanding our team. We also hope to inspire Greeley’s incoming underclassmen so they can pick up after we leave and make the HG Invitational an annual tradition at Greeley.” Ultimately, the pair is excited for the future of the Science Olympiad in both the middle schools and high schools!

A #1 Spot At Regional Tournament for the PMS Science Olympiad Team

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The Pleasantville Middle School Science Olympiad team participated in a springtime Lower Hudson Regional Tournament. Competing against 30 teams throughout the region, the Pleasantville A Team ranked 1st overall. Across the 18 qualifying events, Pleasantville achieved 27 Top Ten finishes.

The 39 students who competed on March 4 were:

8th graders: Miikko Cascardo, Caitlin Chiong, Julian Giebelhaus, Prerna Gupta, Julian Jacinto, Siya Kapoor, Neave Traymore, Marco Schares Suarez, Carla Schober-Gonzalez, Yasmina Shouery, and James Vukelj

7th graders: Lexie Boyce, Alec Cochran, Aiden Crowder, Nick Davidson, Caydence Liu, Akshay Malhotra, Lea Nasr, Elias Neuman, Connor O’Brien, Ryan O’Malley, Cameron Pattinson, Nehla Sauthoff, Alex Sayed, Myla Silver, and Xander Tsilikoudis

6th graders: Aryan Bhat, Asher Dundas, Ean Freitas, Anton Gardner, Jordan Herst, Wyatt Marzec, Tanvir Matharu, Nihal Matharu, Thomas O’Brien, Praneeth Pothuganti, Dante Ramsey Lavoie, Colin Rhatigan, and Kellan White

The Science Olympiad program is coordinated by parent volunteers Lana Pattinson and Dr. Kristine Cochran, and PMS teachers Jake Sablosky and Leanne Benson. They all also coach a challenge (or two).

Also serving as coaches are Dr. Lisa Brown, Artie Carlucci, Dr. William Cochran, Katie Cusack, Dr. Bill Cusack, Dr. Scott Crowder, Yasmine Falk, Sonia Fujimori, Allyson Kwan, Dr. Christian Lavoie, Dr. J.D. Lewis, Dr. Gaurav Malhotra, John Marzec, Chloe O’Brien, Ross Pattinson, Mary Ellen Santare, Charyl Santiamo, Angela Sgobbo, Prashanth Suresh, and Jonathan White.

In addition, multiple students from PHS coach the team, including Dana Balin, Camilla Browand, Megan Chiong, Evan Cochran, Harshini Pothuganti, and Hanifa Thein.

For more information on Science Olympiad please contact Ms. Benson at PMS, BensonL@pleasantvilleschools.org.

New Title from Long Time Journalist & Inside Press Contributor Pamela Brown: Faithful Love

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Faithful Love is a contemporary romance novel that brings readers into the lives of Candace Crestworth, a beautiful, high-powered prosecutor, and Corey Matthews, a charming detective who ends up on the other side of the law. In the opinion of Candace, it’s the wrong side. But they find themselves attracted to each other and it becomes a story of love, adventure, heartbreak, and loss. There is also a suspenseful subplot involving a criminal investigation that brings the entire storyline to a riveting climax.

Available on Amazon

Pamela was inspired to write the book by her father, who was a detective. His line of work always intrigued her, plus she pursued a law degree, so she centered the story on two unforgettable characters who work in the exciting world of these two fields. You’ll find a blend of fast-paced action and danger along with emotional scenes of heartbreak that show the complexity of life but also highlight the power of love.

What Happened to Jackson Avenue Articulates the Facts & Consequences of ‘Urban Renewal’ in Nyack 

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What Happened to Jackson Avenue was downright courageous, carefully researched, altogether tragic — and, with so few films exploring this phenomenon in any depth, groundbreaking. The phrase ‘Urban Renewal’ to those impacted became despised words by those who experienced it more as “urban replacement’ as 120 or more families, subject to ‘eminent domain’ and with little recourse, were basically forced out, a decades old phenomenon, still happening and impacting largely black communities not only in Nyack, but throughout the U.S.. The experience in Nyack was amply documented by Rockland County historians and resident witnesses.
 
In Nyack, the predominantly black community (79 percent) suffered not only humiliation, gross disruptions to their schooling and livelihoods in severed ties to their community–but ultimately lost homes and businesses, collectively in the film, the film’s experts and sources cited state that the wealth lost is estimated at $30-$50 million via lost equity. Initially, a 15-minute interview with those in the film bearing witness evolved into a full fledged project to document What Happened to Jackson Avenue.
 
At its conclusion, the film received a hearty applause, and during a panel discussion with the director and several individuals–all deeply knowledgeable about the history of urban renewal in Nyack–interviewed in the film, audience suggestions touched on everything from the need for free screenings at local schools and churches for wider viewing (urging the filmmakers to get the word out to a larger African American community audience in particular) as to how to begin to seek reparations.
 
The documentary film was produced by Phoenix Theater Ensemble, in collaboration with the Rivertown Film Society. 
 
“We made some good new friends and advocates,” said Craig Stone, founder of the Phoenix Theatre Ensemble on behalf of himself and his spouse and co-partner, creative director Elise Stone. “We admire the people of Nyack who are not afraid to tackle the idea of community acknowledgement and even concrete suggestions on reparation options.” 
 
What Happened to Jackson Avenue will be holding a second public screening on July 7 at the historic Nyack Center which stands in the heart of the neighborhood most impacted.
 
 

Audra McDonald at Caramoor: Class Act Performance & Messages About Love

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I arrived with one of my oldest and dearest friends from high school, over the moon excited to see the Tony, Emmy and Grammy Award-winning singer and actor Audra McDonald as the featured artist in Caramoor’s opening Saturday night concert on June 17 inside the packed Venetian Theater. Many were dressed to the nines, as a formal gala followed to celebrate and kick off Caramoor’s jam-packed 2023 summer season.

I had missed Audra’s Caramoor performance pre-pandemic, and had made a mental note: that’s not happening again! 

Photo by Gabe Palacio for Caramoor

At the very moment McDonald – in a stunning gown adorned by her long ringlets – stepped onto the stage smiling broadly to her musical director, Andy Einhorn, who smiled just as broadly right back, I could sense we were all in for a treat, a magical one, at that! 

This was the first time I had heard Audra McDonald sing. 

Aside from having a gorgeous voice, described aptly as a ‘luminous soprano’, I so enjoyed Audra’s wonderfully playful, utterly comfortable in her own skin quality, as she relayed humorous stories surrounding both the now 52-year-old mom’s very impressive childhood achievements and also (which I as a fellow mom especially enjoyed) stories about her four children and stepchildren (two 22 year olds, a 19 year old, and a six year old!), who were not all always as entranced by mom’s singing. Oh well… kids!

She was so thoughtful and inclusive in her song choices at the outset, opening the evening’s performance with I Am What I Am, and also generous in engaging the audience at so many turns, including with I Could Have Danced All Night, and at the show’s conclusion, Life is a Cabaret, which rather brought down the house. 

Audra McDonald is truly a star’s star, who graciously and gratefully acknowledged Einhorn a couple times during the evening along with offering warm words for all the members of the stellar Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Audra, I took note, also had the rapt front rows attention from the likes of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Nita Lowey and Martha Stewart.

“Love, live, dream… and then love bigger,” Audra offered at the show’s conclusion. Noted.

P.S. It was a grand event at Caramoor, which amply set the stage for another summer to remember. It’s not too late to make this a Caramoor summer. Please visit www.caramoor.org for more that’s in store!