Good News Bruins
May 2013
Toshiba Exploravision Contest
Congratulations to the following Toshiba Exploravision Contest Honorable Mention Winners. Team Tanks Be Gone: Alex Lin, William Escobar, Evan Chase, Team The SmartR Phone: Isabella Padilla, Meagan Espinoza, Jordan Koontz, Team MAX Scanner: Cole Bird, Garrett Niles, Mohamed Naji, Lucas Soohoo.
Team America Rocketry Challenge
Congratulations to Emily Clymer, Alex Altobelli, Corrie Chamberlin, Maggie Ruud, Aneeka Mahan, Kyle Desautels, Oscar Espinoza, Charles Lee, Hunter Johnson, and Robert Douthwaite for placing 10th this past weekend at the Team America Rocketry Challenge National Finals. The ‘Rockettes’, as they like to be called, competed against over 700 teams from across the nation in an amateur rocketry competition in which students are tasked with building a model rocket that is to be flown to an altitude of 750 feet, have a total flight time of 45 seconds, and prevent its payload, a raw egg, from breaking. Another of our teams from Lake Braddock, “Sachin the Great,” placed 58th at the finals, placing them in the top 10% of all teams nationally. Great job to everyone who participated this year in TARC.
Counseling Departments, Baseball, and Girls Cross Country
On Wednesday, May 8, House of Delegates Member Eileen Filler-Corn visited Lake Braddock to recognize exceptional achievements by our MS and HS Counseling Departments, the Girls Cross Country Team, and the Varsity Baseball Team. The counseling departments recently earned RAMP re-certification while Girls Cross Country and Varsity Baseball both won VA State Championships. Delegate Filler-Corn, who represents the 41st District, drafted resolutions that were read and passed by the last session of the Virginia General Assembly.
Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions
Lake Braddock Sophomore Joshua Wartel placed fourth this past weekend at the Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions at Northwestern University, Lake Forest, Illinois. The tournament invites the top extemporaneous speakers in the nation for head-to-head competition. Josh is the first Bruin, and only the second Virginian, to place in the tournament's top 6.
Auto Tech Students Earn Gold
Mr. Prakash and Mr. Plum are proud to report that Willow Ruud placed 5th in the state and Tyler Mundrick placed a respectable 13th in the SkillsUSA Automotive Service Technology Competition. The Virginia State Competition was held over two days at the Roanoke Civic Center in Roanoke, VA on April 19-20. Both students proudly represented Lake Braddock against the best the state had to offer. Congratulations to both of them and also to Elle Kime for their impressive performance at the District competition held on January 29. Ruud took first place; Mundrick took third, and Kime, sixth out of 30 competitors from 15 area schools and career centers. All three of these competitors, who are students in Mr. Plum’s Automotive Technology 2 class, demonstrated every aspect of Bruin Pride throughout their preparations and competitions. Thanks to Mr. Prakash and Mr. Plum for the leadership and support that helped make these successes possible.
National History Day Competition
Big news – freshmen Alanna Peterson & Emily Williams won a gold medal for their senior group documentary at National History Day’s state competition on Saturday! There are various groups that also give out special awards and they received one from the Naval Order of the United States! Their documentary is “When China Lost the Seas.” They will represent the state of Virginia, and also Lake Braddock SS at the national competition June 9-14th. Congratulations to each of them for their success thus far and best of luck to them in the state competition!
Science Olympiad
Lake Braddock’s middle school Science Olympiad team took 3rd place at the Virginia state tournament on April 27th. Our students competed in 23 different events such as genetics, engineering, and astronomy. This year’s competition was held on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
| State Team | |||
| Katie Ahn | Nithin Bagal | Sam Bove | Lee Yung Chang |
| Jackie Chen | Priscilla Cruz | Dakota Do | Jared Hood |
| Paarth Jain | Hannah Kim | John Kim | Divya Mathews |
| William Musk | Will Peyton | Kim Salac | Ian Sutcliffe |
| Katie Tam | Rebecca Willis | Sung Joon Won | Todd Murphy-Head Coach |
In HS, The Science Olympiad team finished sixth in the state competition.
1st Place Astronomy: Jean Salac and Lauren Schwartz
3rd Place Boomilever: Chauvien Bui-Huynh and Zenas Chen
4th Place Chem Lab: Jean Salac and Mauricio Segovia
3rd Place Disease Detectives: Chauvien Bui-Huynh and Kai DeBus
5th Place Dynamic Planet: Lauren Schwartz and Frank Carber
2nd Place Elastic Launch Glider: Bryan Bergan and Matt Sandfry
2nd Place Experimental Design: Helen Richard, Divya Menon and Amy Shi
4th Place Gravity Vehicle: Frank Carber and Matt Sandfry
3rd Place Roller Coaster: Zenas Chen and Chauvien Bui-Huynh
2nd Place Water Quality: Frank Carber and Kai DeBus
1st Place Write It Do It: Kira Emmons and Helen Richard
5th Place Scrambler (Trial Event): Eunice Chun and Amy Shi
6th Place Green Generation (Trial Event): Jackie Ko and Jin Hee Park
Congratulations to all of our students for their success this year and THANK YOU Todd Murphy, Judy Barrile, Emily Owens, Mary Lynn Huett, Chris Bonnaffon, and Kate Guan for your time and dedication to Science Olympiad.
Congratulations Girls Track
Congratulations to the following track girls for their amazing job at the Penn Relays last weekend. The team of Ally Robinson, Katie Roche, Hannah Christen and Sophie Chase qualified for the 4 x 800 relay Championship of America Final, where they finished 7th with a state leading time of 9:13. Also, Sophie Chase won her second 3000m title, and Hannah Christen was 11th. Congrats ladies!!
April 2013
US News and World Report "Best High Schools"
The annual US News and World Report “Best High Schools” rankings are out. These rankings are based on state proficiency standards and how well high schools prepare students for college. This year Lake Braddock was awarded Gold Medal status, up from a silver in previous years.Lake Braddock was ranked by U.S. News & World Report:
- 197th out of 21,035 U. S. public high schools – top 1%
- 7th of the 96 Virginia schools – top 7%
Math Counts Earns GOLD!
Lake Braddock Middle School is one of only 240 schools nationwide to achieve GOLD Level Status in the
2013 MATHCOUNTS Club Program. Achieving GOLD Level Status is an impressive accomplishment
requiring hard work and dedication; the students in the LBMS math club successfully completed a total
of six rigorous math challenges throughout the school year. The math challenges contain challenging
problems aligned with the middle school math curriculum and are designed to promote critical thinking.
On the final math challenge, at least 12 of our students scored 80% or higher. Thank you and
congratulations to Diane Turel and Stacey Mayo for their work with our students in MATHCOUNTS.
Virginia Governor’s Cup Cyber Challenge
This past fall, 27 LBSS students participated in the Cyber Challenge, a nationwide competition focusing on the fundamentals of cyber security.There were 1,200 participants nationwide. The 40 highest scoring students from the state of Virginia were chosen to compete for top honors, scholarships, and internships at George Mason University on March 1 and 2 in the Virginia Governor's Cup Cyber Challenge, offering students a hands-on, interactive learning environment with a focus on skills information security professionals use in their jobs every day. Of the 40 who earned this honor, three are Lake Braddock students. Congratulations John Kim (7th Grade), Eric Wang (8th Grade), and Ryan Kelly (Junior).
National Latin Exam
Congratulations to the Latin Classes of Mr. Metress, Ms. Klingelhut and Mr. Lucacevic for their spectacular scores on the National Latin Exam again this year. There were 187 students who took the National Latin Exam this year and the Lake Braddock Latin Program had 100 of them receive National Recognition. 21 Students received Gold Medals and 24 received Silver Medals. There were also 37 students who achieved "magna cum laude" and "cum laude" recognition.
Boys State Conference
Congratulations to the following young men who have been selected to represent LBSS Boys State Conference in June: Ben Fields, Andrew Lafosse, Daniel Murphy, and Matt Whalen.
Odyssey of the Mind
Lake Braddock’s Odyssey of the Mind team recently competed in the State competition and took third place. Congratulations to team members Crystal Luong, Nan Denette, Nick Wilcher, Anna Coughlin, Idan Woodruff and Rusty Ford.
Speech and Debate
Three Bruins have qualified to represent Lake Braddock Secondary School at the National Forensic League National Championship Tournament, June 16 - 21, in Birmingham, Alabama. At the recent qualifying tournament at Madison County High School sophomore Ben Tobin took 1st place in International Extemporaneous speaking, while sophomore Joshua Wartel took 1st place in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking. Junior, Jonah Scharf, took third place in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking. Ben, Josh, and Jonah have advanced to Nationals. Sophomore Bunyamin Sevim also took 5th place in the tournament's Student Congress division, and 9th in Lincoln Douglas debate. Sophomores Zelgai Saleh and Jack Murphy also represented the school at the event.
March 2013
Students Advance to State Science Fair
Congratulations to the following students on their success at the Regional Science Fair held at Robinson Secondary School on March 15 - 17. The state fair will be held on April 5 - 6 at VMI.
Anya Michaelsen-Physics and Astronomy (she was also a Grand Prize Alternate winner)
Christopher Clarke-Energy and Transportation
Kai DeBus-Environmental Management
Seung Ha Lee-Physics and Astronomy
Charles Lee-Plant Sciences.
Superior Orchestras
Congratulations to our MS and HS Orchestras on their recent performance assessment festivals. Led by directors Beth Reed and Daniel McCarthy, all six groups performed at Woodson HS on March 14-16. Each orchestra performed in front of three judges who rated the music they prepared. Additionally, a number of the groups were evaluated on their ability to “site read” a piece of music. This festival is the equivalent of the Standards of Learning Exam and is the central measure of performance for music groups across the state. Congratulations!
MS Concert Orchestra – II (Excellent)
MS String Ensemble – II (Excellent)
MS Chamber Orchestra – I (Superior)
HS Concert Orchestra – II (Excellent)
HS Strings Ensemble – I (Superior)
HS Symphony Orchestra – I (Superior)
Congratulations HS and MS Bands!
Congratulations to our MS and HS Bands in their recent performance assessment festivals. Our MS bands performed here at Lake Braddock on Saturday, March 2, while the HS bands performed at West Springfield on Friday and Saturday, March 8 and 9. Performance in front of three judges at these festivals is the equivalent of the Standards of Learning Exam and is the central measure of performance for music groups across the state.
Middle School:
Bruin Band – Grade II – Superior I – (First ever!!!!)
Cadet Band – Grade III – Superior I
Select Band – Grade III – Excellent
II Wind Ensemble – Grade IV/V – Superior I
High School:
Concert II – Grade IV – Excellent II
Concert I – Grade V – Excellent II
Symphonic – Grade VI – Superior I
Guitar Students Soar
Congratulations to Ye Ram Yoon for winning the first place prize ($1,000) in the senior division of the Beatty Music Scholarship Competition for Classical Guitar! Also, congratulations to Ben Levitt, Daniel Quirke, Bau-Thu Phan-Vu, and Mauricio Segovia. These students were selected to represent Lake Braddock Secondary in the All-County Guitar Ensemble under the direction of Grammy Award winner Andrew York. The performance will take place at noon on Saturday, March 16, at South County High School, as part of our annual Mid-Atlantic Guitar Ensemble Festival.
National History Day Competition
On Saturday, March 2, Fairfax County Public Schools in partnership with George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate, Museum & Gardens, Gadsby’s Tavern, and the National Museum of the Marine Corps sponsored the District 5 National History Day competition. Two hundred and fifty students from eight Virginia school districts and five private schools met at Mount Vernon High School to present their research on a variety of historical topics. There were over 160 entries in the categories of documentary, exhibit, performance, website, and historical paper. Fairfax County Public Schools were represented by ninety-five students from Lake Braddock Secondary, Lorton Station Elementary, Madison High School, McLean High School, Mount Vernon High School, Whitman Middle School, and West Springfield School.
Lake Braddock students Alanna Peterson and Emily Williams represented Lake Braddock in a most noteworthy way when they won first place in the category of Senior Group Documentary for their production, When China Lost the Seas. They will go on to represent FCPS at the state competition.
Maria Roberts Honored
Congratulations to Maria Roberts for winning the Teacher Excellence
Award at the International Technology Engineering Educators Association
(ITEEA) conference in Ohio. The Teacher Excellence Award is the most
prestigious award given in recognition of Technology and Engineering
Education Teachers. Awards are presented to elementary, middle and
high school teachers who are honored at this conference.
Lake Braddock Key Club
Congratulations to Lake Braddock Key Club for winning the “Key Club of the Year” award this past weekend at the Capital District convention. There are 256 Key Clubs within the Capital District, and Lake Braddock was selected as the best Key Club for this school year. Also, congratulations to the following Key Club officers for their “Distinguished Officer” awards: President Michaele Phan, Vice-President Vanessa Martinez, Secretary Marisa Paipongna, and Treasurer Jeannette Essimi-Menye.
Congratulations to Key Club Members Allyson Biersack and Rebecca Biersack for winning the “Above & Beyond” award this past weekend at the Capital District convention. This award recognizes outstanding Key Club members. Allyson and Rebecca have been devoted club members since they first joined Key Club, and their passion for community service is evident in every project that they participate in.
Jack and Jill History Bowl
On February 24th, William Curry-Johnson, 9th grade, Madeline Manhertz (team captain), 12th grade, Marcus Dunlap, 12th grade, Andie Koko, 12th grade and Nathaniel Smith, 12 grade placed 2nd at the annual Jack and Jill Black History Trivia Bowl. Please join Dan Maxwell and Sonja Curry Johnson in congratulating our students for their hard work and great performance at this year's competition.
Congratulations All State Band and Orchestra
This past weekend, eight orchestra and five band students made All-VA Band and Orchestra. Auditions took place in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Congratulations! Orchestra Members:
Michael Romans- Violin
Jin Hee Park- Violin
Madison Lee- Violin
Austin Cho- Violin
Karen Ko- Violin
Mike Kim- Viola
Patrick Kim- Cello
Daniel Song- Cello
Band Members:
Alana Hutchinson-Flute
Colin Harrington-Trumpet
Zach Pramenko-Trumpet
Daniel Cox-Tuba
James Adelsberger, Percussion
Alternates:
Andrew Reynolds, 2nd Bass Trombone
Stephen Foster, 1st Euphonium
February 2013
Congratulations Winter Sports Teams!
Wrestling - Patriot District Champs, 4th in Region, 7th in State
Individuals - 8 individual District Champions, 3 Regional Champions, 1 state Champion
Rory Renzi – 160 lb – AAA State Champion
Sean Haskett – 132 lb – 3rd in state
Ryan Haskett – 113 lb – 5th in state
Basketball
Boys: Patriot District Champions
Will Gregorits - All-District 1st Team and All- Defensive Team
Girls: Natalie Butler, Patriot District Player of the Year and Northern Region Player of the Year
Caitlyn Mandela - Patriot District All-Defensive Team
Betsy Gallier, Patriot District Honorable Mention
Indoor Track Boys - 2nd in the district and 10th in the region
Girls - So far girls are 2nd in district and 2nd in region
Gymnastics - 2nd in districts
Varsity Dance Team- George Mason Massonettes Dance Competition: Competing against nationally ranked teams, placed 4th in Pom & High Kick routines.
South County Dance Invitational: Placed 1st in Pom, 1st in High Kick. The high kick routine won 2nd highest overall score for the entire competition.
Rifle team - Finished 3rd in the region
Swim/Dive - Boys finished 3rd in district; 9th in region
Girls finished 5th in the district
Cole McGarry was district champion in 100 Butterfly and 200 Individual Medley.
VHSL State Speech Tournament
Three Bruins have advanced to the VHSL State Speech Tournament, March 23 in Harrisonburg: Josh Wartel, 10th Grade, Regional Champion in Extemporaneous Speaking; Jonah Scharf, 11th Grade, Runner-Up, Extemporaneous Speaking; and Ben Tobin, 10th Grade, Third Place, Impromptu Speaking. Jean Paula Salu and Marissa Arjamian also represented Lake Braddock in the Regional tournament.
Congratulations Art Students
Congratulations to the following Art students selected as 2013 Regional Scholastic Art Award winners. Their work is on display in the Lake Braddock Secondary School Art Gallery in the main hall.
There will be a reception on February 26th from 2:15 -3pm. The Regional Scholastic Art Show is being held at NOVA in the Ernst Cultural Center.
| Student Name | Grade | Work Category |
|---|---|---|
| Phillip Igyarto | 12 | Digital Art |
| Ian Jelliffe | 12 | Film & Animation |
| Ian Jelliffe | 12 | Art Portfolio |
| Allison Yeh | 8 | Film & Animation |
| Kevin Dizon | 11 | Digital Art |
| Ian Jelliffe | 12 | Film & Animation |
| Michelle Chon | 10 | Painting |
| Tristan Crum | 11 | Fashion |
| Phillip Igyarto | 12 | Film & Animation |
| Emely Pascual | 10 | Jewelry |
Congratulations Wrestling Team
Congratulations to the wrestling team on their Patriot District Championship. The Bruins had 8 individual District champions in Darius Wiles, Ryan Haskett, Tim Murphy, Sean Haskett, Sean Gamarra, Rory Renzi, Ian Reilly and Romario Peart. Great Job!! The wrestlers wanted to thank all the LB students that came out and cheered. Good Luck at Regional this Friday and Saturday at Hayfield HS.
Congratulations Auto Tech Students
We are pleased to announce that three of our Auto Technology students, who competed in the Automotive portion of the SkillsUSA District competition, placed 1st, 3rd and 6th out of 33 competitors. Willow Ruud won the entire competition and won a gold medal for her efforts. Tyler Mundrick took third place which also earns him a gold medal. Lauren (Elle) Kime finished sixth, missing gold by one spot and earned herself a silver medal. This is the best performance by Lake Braddock Secondary School students, so far, in this annual competition. Willow and Tyler have both advanced to the state competition in April that will be held in Roanoke. This will be Willow’s second consecutive trip to the state competition and she is excited to compete a second time. Keep up the great work!
December 2012
US Senate Youth Program
Congratulations to Sam Tobin, an LBSS senior who has been selected as a Virginia Delegate to the United States Senate Youth Program. This program identifies two students from each state and the District of Columbia to represent their state in Washington, DC from March 9 through March 16, 2013. During the program, each delegate will receive a certificate for a $5,000 scholarship award. Way to go, Sam!
American Mathematics Competition
The Middle School Mathematics Department would like to congratulate the following medalist who received gold, silver and bronze in the 2012 American Mathematics Competition AMC 8:
Gold – 1st Place School Winner – Sung Joon Won
Gold – 1st Place – John S. Kim
Both Sung Joon Won and John S. Kim received National Awards of Distinction for scoring in the top 1%.
Silver – 2nd Place – Edmund D. Williams, Eric Wang X, and Wonseok Song
Bronze – 3rd Place – Andrew J. Yim, William S. Kim, Jared W. Hood
Each of the Silver and Bronze medalists received National Awards of Honor Roll for scoring in the top 5%. Congratulations to all our finalists.
Congratulations Business Department
Lake Braddock has been awarded “Blue Star School” status from the 2012 Financial Literacy Certification program. Over 95% of our Economics and Personal Finance students passed the W!SE Financial Literacy Certification test. Congratulations to our Business teachers Miriam Lynch and Tom McLarney for this achievement!
Congratulations Debate
Sophomore Josh Wartel has been invited to the Montgomery Bell Academy Extemporaneous Speaking Round-Robin tournament. The tournament, held in Nashville, Tennessee, January 4-6, is an exclusive invitational tournament which brings together the top 16 extemporaneous speakers in the nation for a 9 round competition. Josh is the youngest student to attend the tournament from Virginia, and he is only the 5th student from Virginia to be invited to attend the tournament in its 15 year existence.
The Lake Braddock Speech/Debate Team recently placed 24th in a field of 107 high schools at the George Mason University Patriot Games Speech/Debate Tournament that took place December 1-2 at GMU. Entering only 6 events in the tournament, several Lake Braddock team members won individual awards. Sophomore Josh Wartel placed 5th in Extemporaneous Speaking and 6th in Impromptu Speaking; Sophomore Ben Tobin was a semi-finalist in Impromptu Speaking; Junior Jonah Scharf was a semi-finalist in Student Congress and a quarter-finalist in Impromptu Speaking; and Junior Frank Carber was a quarter-finalist in Impromptu Speaking. Team members Katelyn Moore, Zelgai Saleh, Jack Murphy, Bunyamin "Ben" Sevim, Brian Barbu, Amy Wang, and Kai Debuss also represented the team at the event.
November 2012
Congratulations Cross Country teams
Congratulations go out to the Lake Braddock Girls Cross Country team for bringing home the Virginia State Championship this past weekend at Great Meadows. Also, we would like to congratulate the Boys Cross Country team for placing fourth at the state championships.
Congratulations Marching Band
The Lake Braddock Marching Band participated in their fall marching band assessment this past Saturday at Patriot HS in Prince William County. This festival is the equivalent of Standards of Learning exams taken in other courses. Once again, the Marching Band received a superior rating, the 32nd straight time the band has achieved this feat.
Congratulations Senior Regional Orchestra Members
The Directors of our Orchestra Program, Beth Reed and Daniel McCarthy would like to recognize the following students who made Senior Regional Orchestra. Congratulations to all! They will perform Mahler 1 at Wakefield High School on November 10th at 4 p.m.
Austin Cho, Violin
Illena Kim, Violin
Mike Kim, Viola
Patrick Kim, Cello
Won Kim, Cello
Karen Ko, Violin
Grace Lee, Violin
Madison Lee, Violin
Nicole Moon, Cello
Jin Hee Park, Violin
Andrew Reynolds, Bass Trombone
Michael Romans, Violin
Amy Shi, Violin
Allison Slomski, Viola
Daniel Song, Cello
Congratulations To Our Fall Sports Teams
Congratulation to the Girls Cross Country Team for capturing the Northern Region Championship this afternoon. They were led by Sophie Chase who finished first. Congratulations also goes to the Boy Cross Country Team who finished fourth in the region. They were led by Nick Tuck who finished second overall. Both teams qualified for the state meet next weekend.
Congratulations to all of our sports teams on a very successful fall. To date, three of our teams have captured district titles.
Varsity Football-Patriot District Champion
Girls Cross Country-Patriot District Champion
Boys Cross Country-Patriot District Champion
Varsity Cheer-Patriot District Runner-up
October 2012
Congratulations to the Boys and Girls Cross Country Teams for capturing district championships at Burke Lake yesterday! Sophie Chase and Nick Tuck were individual district champions. The regional tournament is Thursday, November 1, 2012, at 3:15 PM (Burke Lake Park).
Also, the Varsity Cheer team placed 2nd in the district championships! The team will compete in the Regional Championships at Fairfax High School this Saturday, October 27, 2012, at 7:55 PM.
Lake Braddock Marching Band
Congratulations to the Lake Braddock Marching Band, who traveled with members of the 8th grade band to Hermitage High School in Richmond to compete in the Hermitage Classic Marching Band Competition. The band took the Grand Champion title placing first out of thirty bands in music, marching, general effect and color guard. Congratulations to the band and all of their hard work. The band travels to JMU on October 20th for their next competition.
September 2012
Gold Star Teacher Award
Congratulations Miriam Lynch and Tom McLarney who are recipients of the Gold Star Teacher Award! They achieved a 90% pass rate in at least one of their classes on the WISE Financial Literacy Certification Test. WISE will be honoring these teachers at WISE’s MoneyPOWER Conference for Financial Literacy in NYC on Tuesday, November 6th.
Tech Ed Teachers Shine
Congratulations to Maria Roberts and David Walker for earning distinction for the outstanding work they do in their Technology Education classrooms.
- Maria Roberts - Virginia State Technology Teacher of the Year
- David Walker - Fairfax County Technology Teacher of the Year
Keep up the great work!