As the summer draws to a close, school clubs are looking to the future and preparing for the upcoming months. Students involved with Science Research, Mu Alpha Theta, Science Olympiad, Newspaper and a plethora of fall sports have been focused over the summer and are now ramping up for the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year.
Science Research
Motivated students who enrolled in the summer science research program diligently worked in the lab for eight weeks following the last day of school in June. During this time, they took part in a lab bootcamp, developed their research topics and attended classes centered around data analysis. Students also completed presentations and assignments during this time in order to prepare for the upcoming year’s competitions. For new research students, it was a valuable experience that set expectations for the fall research class.
Year one research student, freshman Aayan Kherada, went into depth about how research differed from what he expected. “I thought it [Research] was just researching for your science fair project, but we actually went to the lab and did assignments on lab etiquette, equipment precision and safety. Not only that, but we also did labs on different model organisms.” He then went on to comment that, “Even though the workload was intense the first two weeks, with statistics and computer science classes, rigorous presentations and daily labs, it lightened quite considerably over time. Having friends from my grade, making new ones from higher ones, and getting to know the professors better made this experience so much more enjoyable.”
Sophomore Stella Shin, also a year one research student, commented that she enjoyed participating in the course over the summer “because it gave me a new perspective outside of required labs in science class. I never thought it would be so much fun to be in lab.”
Mu Alpha Theta
Math competition students are gearing up for the year ahead. Math camp will be offered before the beginning of the school year to inform students about the upcoming competitive season. Students are excited to come together once again as a team. Competitions will be starting shortly, and we wish our mathletes good luck!
Science Olympiad
Returning Science Olympians have been reviewing new events and have submitted their topic preferences. Senior and current President Emma Pudney said, “Preparing for the upcoming season, Science Olympiad has been organizing events, creating teams, gathering coaches and selecting invitationals.” Our team will continue to work hard over the fall and winter sessions as they prepare for the country, state, invitational and national competitions.
Newspaper
Staffers and editors of the Patriot Post have been honing their craft during the past few months by writing bi-monthly articles for their online publication, the iPatriot Post. The Freshman Magazine, organized by print editor in chief Zoe Horowitz, is another publication which will be released the first day of school to ninth-graders which aims to help freshmen better acclimate to senior high. Senior Emma Delgado had been working on the upcoming Sigma Xi magazine, which will be released soon after the first few weeks of school.
Fall Sports
Athletes have been preparing for the fall sporting season by completing the required sport participation forms and online tests. Travel and varsity evaluations began recently and individuals hoping to participate in intramural sports have been given due dates respective to the sport they are looking to enroll in. Uniforms and other equipment are in the process of being ordered and shipped to the school. Additionally, students involved in fall teams have attended various conditioning summer practices to support success in the upcoming competitive season. The cross country team, specifically, has been conditioning since July, using local parks to run and train. According to freshman swimmer Pascal Brinkman, the swim team has hosted practices over the past few months to maintain their skills in the pool. Sophomore cheerleader Alexia Le said cheerleading recently held a weekend camp for participants, allowing everyone to meet, practice and get back into the mindset for cheering into the upcoming competitive season. During the first varsity football game Friday, August 16, cheerleaders put their skills to use, helping Heritage from the sidelines with their win of the new 24-25 season. “It was very fun cheering under the Friday night lights and viewing the game from the sidelines,” sophomore varsity cheerleader Jahlisa Martin said.
From Science Research to sports, extracurricular clubs have been extremely busy preparing for the first day of school. Opportunities for success await each of our teams in the 2024-25 school year. Go Patriots!
Summer Science Research students worked diligently in the lab to begin their experiments over the summer. From top left to bottom right, researchers Beatriz Assano, Scarlet Asselta, Olivia, Stella Shin and Maxime Lam work on their projects. (Photo/Amara Okpala)
Football had a promising start to the season, and school sports fans will be looking forward to seeing how the year plays out. (Photo/Summer Collier)
