As usual, the many varied clubs and organizations at Olympic Heights have been busy doing good things and collecting awards and recognition along the way over the past few weeks.

The Olympic Heights Student Astronaut team, under the direction of Ms. Nirmala (Miss Nimmi) Arunachalam, reached new heights by winning first place in both the Lab and Simulator Challenges at this year’s Student Astronaut Challenge at Kennedy Space Center, held between February 22-24.

The OH Student Astronaut team is made up of Kaylee Cunningham, Alexa Cole, and Ben Kaufman (flight team); Justin Condren, and Alexander Glotov (mission control); and Jordan Rosen (ISS team).

The Simulator Flight team was awarded The Apollo 13 Flight Team Award, presented to the Flight Team that demonstrated the Resilient Spirit and Teamwork Exemplified by Astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise of Apollo 13.

Olympic Heights Marine Corps JROTC Instructor Colonel Alvah Ingersoll was recognized as Palm Beach County’s JROTC Instructor of the Year at the annual Career and Technical Education (CTE) Dinner and Awards Program on Feb. 20. “We are very proud of him and his accomplishments in the short three years of the Marine Corps JROTC Academy,” OH Academies Program Coordinator Ms. Anita Foster commented.

The Olympic Heights Jazz Band, under the direction of Ms. Jacquelyne Gonzalez,  received straight superior ratings (the highest possible scores) in their district evaluation at Dreyfoos School of the Arts on Feb. 8.  The OH student musicians, listed below, worked hard to play and interpret the great music of Duke Ellington and Count Basie and continued the tradition of OH Jazz Band being one of the top ensembles in the county and state.

Rhythm Section: Andre Fernandes, Austin Friedenburg, Kayla Connors, and Neabraun Burke; Saxophones: Pedro Fernandes, Margaret Clum, Melanie Stevens, Victoria Carroll and Matthew Cohen; Trombones: Anelis Arreola, Justin Holler, and Gabriel Beltran; Trumpets: Samuel Shulman, Jordan Stein, Gregory Benavides, and Gabriel Cavalcanti

The Olympic Heights Choral Department, under the direction of Mr. Richard Andreacchio, sent three choirs to the District Music Performance Assessment on March 2, with all three earning Superior ratings from all four judges in stage and sight reading, thereby qualifying for State Music Performance Assessment.

The Olympic Heights Chinese and French students, under the direction of Ms. Yinjie Qian and Ms. Lise Gilly respectively, won third place out of 12 participating schools at the Palm Beach County World Language Competition on Jan. 27. The students competed in many different categories. They showcased not only their mastery of the target language, but also their understanding of the culture they are studying.

Chinese students earning Superior Rankings were: Patrick Mosur (Impromptu Speech Level 1), Bryce Wulkan (Impromptu Speech Level 3), Jerry Tran (Impromptu Speech Level 4), Alexa Domash, Amanda Querido, Michael Miller, Gavin Tran, Ochid Makhamphan, Giancarlo Leonard, and Robert Berkowitz (Fine Arts Project)

French students earning Superior Rankings were: Gregory Boutboul and Alice Hu (Impromptu Speech Level 5); Kimberly Styblo, Marisol Gonzales, Anna Vardanyan, and Waldiana Jean-Louis (Fine Arts Project).

Boutboul and Berkowitz who were among the four recipients of scholarships awarded for their achievements and dedication in world language study. Boutboul received the Teresita Bertot Memorial Scholarship for French Language, and Berkowitz received the Tula Llanos Memorial Scholarship for Chinese Language.