STUDENT SPOTLIGHT anaheim hills features pianist valerie narumi

Valerie Narumi is in the 6th grade and volunteers as our piano accompanist for the school’s Cougar Chorus.  Outside of school, Valerie is an accomplished young pianist and composer.  At the age of 10, Valerie achieved Music Teachers’ Association of California (MTAC) Certificate of Merit – Advanced Level in Piano Studies with Branch Honors, MTAC’s highest piano studies level and completed Yamaha’s Piano Performance and Fundamentals Grade 5 teacher level examinations in 2011.  She has performed her original piano and ensemble works at Yamaha’s National & Regional Junior Original Concerts in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2010 across the country and at the 2009 and 2010 National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Show in Anaheim, California.  In 2009, Valerie organized and performed two charity recitals to benefit UNICEF and continues to volunteer and share her musical talents at various community events throughout the year.  She has been honored with the President’s Volunteer Service Award, Gold Level from President Obama for her outstanding community service.  In addition, Valerie enjoys playing the violin, figure skating, and art.  Valerie was named a Shining Student for 2010 by OC Family Magazine and was featured in an article in the October 2010 Parenting OC Magazine.  She aspires to become a medical doctor and to continue helping less fortunate children around the world with her charitable work and music. 

Contributed by Vicky, Anaheim Hills 

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT mable's kile young an artistic athlete

Kile Young is a one-of-a-kind young man who exhibits excellence in everything he does.  Not only is he academically gifted (he has been listed on the Director’s Honor Roll every year and is a member of Mable’s award-winning Academic Pentathlon Team for the third year running), but he excels outside of the classroom as well.  Kile has won many local and state art competitions including first place in contests sponsored by The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, The Council on Aging, Alcohol, Tobacco, Drug and Violence Prevention, and California Dept. of Boating and Waterways.  Kile is currently developing a nonprofit organization called The Charitable Art Project that focuses on enriching the lives of the senior community through art.  In addition to his artistic talents, he is an accomplished student and teacher of sport-judo.  He devotes time weekly to the development of children learning judo through instruction and coaching.  A member of the US Judo Federation Academic Honor Society, Kile currently is ranked third in the United States for his age and weight.  He is also an avid golf and tennis player.  In the running for valedictorian of his eighth grade class, Kile has made an impression on Fairmont and will undoubtedly make a name for himself in his future endeavors.

Contributed by Karen, Mable campus

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT edgewood eighth grader does it all

Edgewood eighth grader Amanda C. is a multi-talented dynamo.  This perpetual member of the Honor Roll, who has spent the last six years as a member of the Fairmont Schools family, knows how to make use of her time.  In addition to playing volleyball and having major roles in all three junior high drama productions, she counts president of the ASB and co-captain of the national-second-place-winning Eagles cheerleading squad among her on-campus accomplishments.  Outside of school, she has won first place awards for dance team performances, studies gymnastics, and will soon be presented with the Founders Award from the National Charity League - an honor held for those who volunteer for a minimum of 10 organizations each year.  In her "spare time," she likes to hang out with friends and family and to design clothes, which is a passion she hopes to turn into a career in the fashion industry.  Make sure to say hello to this very friendly eighth grader the next time she passes by. That is, if you can catch her!

Contributed by Jonna, Edgewood campus

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT anaheim hills artist wins statewide contest

Congratulations to Ted Y. in Mrs. Cornish’s fourth grade class for taking First Place statewide in the 2010 Energy Appreciation Day Power Draw Contest.   Anaheim Hills fourth graders recently participated in a comic strip contest hosted by California’s Energy Coalition  These students, as well as many other students from schools throughout California, created a comic strip which illustrated how to use the 4 Peak Energy Actions to save energy at home and/or school.   PEAK is a comprehensive standards-base educational program designed to empower elementary and middle school students with the knowledge to manage energy use in their homes, schools, and communities.  The Peak Student Energy Actions Program was recently recognized as the best children’s environmental education program in the state.  We are very proud of Ted and this wonderful achievement!

Contributed by Vicky, Anaheim Hills campus

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT edgewood fifth grader builds award-winning robot

Nishant Chaturvedi, an Edgewood campus fifth grader, was one of five local students to be recognized for his skill in robotics at the Southern California LEGOLAND Cup on December 5.  The competition was part of the First LEGO League (FLL) 2010 Challenge with the theme “Body Forward”.  Nishant’s team, the Bionic Bots, took first place in the “Research” category for the 9-14 age range.

Through the 2010 Body Forward™ Challenge, FLL teams explore the cutting-edge world of Biomedical Engineering to discover innovative ways to repair injuries, overcome genetic predispositions, and maximize the body's potential, with the intended purpose of leading happier and healthier lives.  After conducting research on the human body, the Bionic Bots selected a broken spinal cord as their real world problem.  They delved deeper into this complex part of the human body and created an innovative solution to fix a spinal cord.

Each FLL Challenge has two parts – the Robot Game and the Project.   Teams build and program an autonomous robot using LEGO MINDSTORMS technology to score points in 2.5-minute matches on a themed playing field.  For the project component, teams explore an actual problem that today's scientists and engineers are trying to solve, develop an innovative solution to that problem (either by creating something that doesn't exist or building upon something that does), and share their findings.

Nishant has been exploring his passion for robotics with classes at Mathobotix in Irvine.  The classes are designed to promote the support and learning of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) using robotics through a grade level structured curriculum.  

Contributed by Danyelle, Marketing

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT mable first grader shows "locks" of love

As we enter February, the month in which we celebrate love, it helps to be reminded that love comes in many forms.  Mable first grader, Raajasvi T., demonstrated her love for helping others when she decided to cut off ten inches of her hair to donate to Locks of Love.  Locks of Love creates high quality wigs for financially disadvantaged children who have lost their hair due to illness. Raajasvi’s favorite part of cutting her hair was that she was doing something nice for someone else, and we are very impressed that such a small child would choose such a big way to show how much she cares. Raajasvi says she was inspired to donate her hair because her Mom recently had donated her hair to Locks of Love. We think Raajasvi's new "do" makes this compassionate cutie even more beautiful!  For more information on Locks of Love visit www.locksoflove.org. 

Contributed by Karen, Mable campus