Student Honors
Students at USJ routinely earn top honors in academic, fine arts and leadership competitions. As students enter competitions this school year, results will be posted on this page.
Lower School Science Fair
Lower School Science fair winners are front row, left to right, Sydney Kwasigroh (1st place Individual/Biology Division — "I SEE VITAMIN C!"); Lillie Homberg (2nd place Team Division — "CRAZY MOUTHS"); Trey Smith (1st place Team Division — "ENERGY USAGE"); Blair Dyer (1st place Individual/Physical Division — "Cool Effects of Liquid Nitrogen") and Abbey Fleming (2nd place Team Division - "CRAZY MOUTHS"); and back row, left to right, Catherine Adkins (3rd place Individual/Physical Division — "3 Out of 4 Dentists Surveyed"); Drew Harbin (3rd place Team Division — "DISTRACTED DRIVERS"); Keyon Kazempour (1st place Team Division — "ENERGY USAGE"); Amir Kaveh (2nd place Individual/Physical Division — "Magnetic"); Jake Overton (3rd place Team Division — "DISTRACTED DRIVERS"); Patrick Aherrera (3rd place Individual/Biology Division — "WATER'S WORST"); and Caroline Haynes (2nd place Indivdual/Biology Division — "AWESOME ALGAE").
Regional Science Bowl
USJ’s Science Bowl team, top right, earned a second-place trophy at the 30th annual Regional Science Bowl at the University of Tennessee at Martin on November 14. Top scorers for USJ were Neel Patel, Josh Self, Evan Baker, Thomas Burton, and Kate McKnight. After three bowl rounds, the team placed second and received silver medals and a trophy.
The following students received certificates of merit for their performance at the Science Bowl …
• Evan A. Baker: biology, chemistry, and physics
• Singh Bindra: chemistry and physics
• Thomas Burton: chemistry and biology
• Russell Hollman: biology
• Kate McKnight: biology and chemistry
• Neel Patel: biology and chemistry
• Joshua Self: chemistry
• Warner Thomas: biology
The entire science bowl team pictured, middle right, is, first row, from left, Karrington Atkins, Evan Baker, Angad Bindra, Thomas Burton, Mahmood Dardas, and Rachel Deaton; second row, Parker Darnall, Colleen Gilroy, Harrison Donahoe, Russell T Hollman, Kate McKnight, and Kwame Nuako; third row, Chirag Odhav, Kenny Oshiro, Leo Oshiro, Neel Patel, and Maggie Rheney, fourth row, Josh Self, Habeeb Suara, Sophia Tan, Ross Thomas, and Warner Thomas; and fifth row, Shane Vargasan, William Wheeler, Jane Ramer (teacher), SM/ACS Sean Malloy, Malea Mullins (teacher), and Dr. S. K. Airee.
Yearbook Receives Top Honors
USJ's yearbook, The Bruin 2009, was inducted into Walsworth Publishing Company's Gallery of Excellence, which recognizes the top yearbooks published by the company in a year. The Bruin 2009 was selected by Walsworth to receive this honor as it was found to be an extraordinary example of a high school yearbook. As a member of the Gallery of Excellence, the Bruin will be used as a well-crafted example of what makes a great yearbook. The Bruin 2009 will be shown to schools across the country and be displayed at regional, state, and national conventions and workshops. Spreads from many Gallery of Excellence yearbooks are also used for example illustrations in Walsworth's educational materials. 2009 Bruin editors are Mallory Yancey and Hewitt Hanafee; Linda Hawks is yearbook advisor.
TMTA Math Contest
USJ’S math teams took top honors at the district competition of the Tennessee Math Teachers Association state math contest at Freed-Hardeman University on April 21, 2009. (The math students are pictured, above, with math teachers Don Newman and Carla Roach.)
 USJ had the first-place team in each of the five categories of Calculus and Advanced Topics, Pre-Calculus, Algebra II, Geometry, and Algebra I. USJ students also earned the top three places in all but one of the categories. USJ winners were…
• Calculus and Advanced Topics II: Connor Gilroy, first; Thomas McKnight, second; Ann Marie Graham, third; Jordan Perchik, fourth; Stephen Gilley, fifth; Agnes Oshiro, sixth; Michael McDaniel, seventh; Marshall Seals, eighth; and Justin Harrison, ninth.
• Pre-Calculus: Thomas Head, first; Kuame Nuako, third; Danny Smigielski, fifth; Andrew Wagner, sixth; Elizabeth Crowder, eighth; and Zach Fisher, tenth.
• Algebra II: Neel Patel, first; Colton Norton, second; Chelsea Kee, third; Josh Self, fourth; and Eric Villarreal, fifth.
• Geometry: Jacob Cohen, first; Abby Orr, second; Kei Kato, third; and Grace Howard, tenth.
• Algebra I: Shane Vargason, first; Minoru Kagimoto, second; Singh Bindra, third; Leonard Oshiro, fourth; Chloe Meriwether, fifth; and Caroline Haynes, sixth.
USJ Students Score Well on French National Contest
Twenty-one USJ Middle School students earned one of the top 10 scores in the state of Tennessee on the 2009 French National Contest. Nine of those students also were national winners. Students earning recognition are …
Seventh Grade: Taimore Khan, 1st in the state and 8th in the country, and Govind Bindra, 2nd in the state and 9th in the country. Other state winners are Elizabeth Glover, 3rd in the state; Cal Bigford, 5th; and Lauren Randolph, 6th.
Eighth Grade: Ryan Sanderson, 2nd in the state and 4th in the country; Troy Smigielski, 3rd in the state, 6th in the country; Anna Garrett, 4th in the state, 8th in the country; Sally Sikes, 5th in the state, 9th in the country; and Conner Adkins, Alex Garey, and Connor Simmons, 6th in the state, 10th in the country. Other state winners are Olivia Baker, 7th in the state; Anna Pearson and Chris Weiner, 8th; Eliza Edwards, Todd Moon, Parker Morgan, and Claire Swindell, 9th; and Lauren Riddell and Kacee Russell, 10th.
This is the highest number of national winners and top 10 state finishers USJ Middle School students have had in the French National Contest. All USJ seventh and eighth graders take two years of foreign language.
West Tennessee Middle School Math Contest
USJ Middle School students placed well in the 2008-2009 West Tennessee Middle School Math Contest at the University of Tennessee at Martin.
Winners were …
Eighth grade: John Villarreal, first place; Akua Nuako, second place; and Col Little, sixth place. Cory Johnson’s score made him the fourth member of the USJ eighth-grade math team. (A math team is made up of the 4 highest scores for that school's grade.)
Seventh Grade: Benjamin Coffman, first place; Leah Sanders, third place; Gram Northern, fourth place; and Govind Bindra’s score made him the fourth member of the USJ seventh-grade math team. I
In the sixth grade competition, Samantha Morgan had the highest score among USJ’s sixth-grade team.
Also representing USJ were eighth graders Trey Teel and James-Roland Markos; seventh graders Austin Orr and Will Cobb; and sixth graders Mary-Tate Bullion, Maryam Ahmad, Madison Perchik, Sam Ward, and David Howarth.
Four hundred Middle School students participated in the contest at Martin.
National Chemistry Olympiad
Senior Connor Gilroy and Junior Neel Patel are among students nominated to represent the Kentucky Lake Section of the American Chemical Society on a national exam. Students across the country take the exam to become members of the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad team that will compete in the 41st International Chemistry Olympiad in Cambridge, England. Connor and Neel’s nominations were based on their scores last fall at the 29th Annual UTM High School Science Bowl. Malea Mullins is their sponsor.
National FIRST Robotic Competition
University School of Jackson high school students Sam Grant, a senior, and Shane Greene, a tenth grader, were members of a robotics team that won second place in their division of 87 teams at a national competition in Atlanta.
This is the team's first year in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), which was held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
To be eligible for the national competition, the team, Liberty Robotics, competed in the St. Louis Regional FIRST Robotic Competition in mid-March. The team won the Rookie All-Star Award and the Highest Rookie Seed Award.
Team members also included students from Liberty High School. They were the only team from Tennessee in the national competition. Black & Decker (Dewalt & Porter Cable) and NASA are the team's Corporate Sponsors.
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Other Student Honors
National Merit Winners
AP Scholars
Duke Talent Search
Spelling Bee
Congratulations to Eighth Grader Sheffiga Rose, who won the USJ school-wide Spelling Bee and will represent USJ in the Jackson Sun Spelling Bee. Congratulations also to Sixth Grader Aditya Thota, first runner-up, and Eighth Grader Cal Bigford, second runner-up.
Wendy Heisman representatives
Congratulations to Madeline Crocker and Colton Norton for winning the Wendy’s Heisman award for USJ this school year. Colton was also a state finalist.
Students win poetry awards
Alexandra Harlan's poem "The Most Beautiful Diamond in the World" was selected for publication by Creative Communication, Inc. in its Spring 2009 anthology. Jade James-Gist's poem "Violin in Childhood" was selected for publication in Teen Ink, a publication of short stories and poetry edited by renowned author Stephanie Meyer. Jade's poem was published in Teen Ink’s 20th anniversary edition in March 2009. Both poems were written in English II, a requirement of the semester poetry project.
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