OHS Earns Most Successful School Award at GENIUS Olympiad

Ossining High School received the Most Successful School Award at the recent GENIUS Olympiad for having the highest number of award-winning projects, marking the first time an American school received this honor.

All 15 OHS juniors who attended the international competition at the State University of New York at Oswego took home awards for their science projects. They are in the school’s Science Research Program.

“Ossining High School students truly stood out in the science competition,” said Valerie Holmes, who co-teaches the program with Angelo Piccirillo. “This is a remarkable accomplishment and a testament to the hard work and dedication they have invested in their research efforts.”

The ninth annual GENIUS Olympiad took place June 17-22. Students around the world submitted 1,657 projects in regional competitions, with 789 accepted for the finals. The competition, which was founded by SUNY Oswego chemistry chair Fehmi Damkaci, promotes a global understanding of environmental issues and sustainability through science, arts, creative writing, engineering, design and business development.

OHS students Raymond Liu and Hammad Hassan won trips to present their research at the Korea Science & Engineering Fair this fall. Raymond, Hammad and their classmates earned five gold awards, two bronze awards and two honorable mentions. All medal winners received Kindle tablets.

“It was an incredible weeklong experience and a wonderful way to close out the school year,” Ms. Holmes said. “These rising seniors are certainly on the path toward a bright and successful future.”

Mr. Piccirillo and Ms. Holmes accepted the Most Successful School Award on behalf of OHS. They received an iPad in addition to a beautiful glass award. Winners in previous years include Jordan (2018), Indonesia (2017) and Slovenia (2016).

“Our students are lucky to have the support of two amazing teachers, Mr. Piccirillo and Ms. Holmes, who always go above and beyond to educate and encourage our students,” Superintendent Raymond Sanchez said.

Earlier this year, the Science Research Program teachers received a grant from the Candreva Environmental Foundation for the purchase of iButton microchip technology. Several students who attended the Olympiad used iButton for their projects.

These are the other student award-winners:

• Gold Award: Hammad Hassan, Alexandra Hoffman, Raymond Liu, Tejas Shah, Fanny Zhang
• Silver Award: Natalia Fel, Federico Grullon, Michelle Lin, Caroline Reed, Justine Valentino, Tej Verma
• Bronze Award: Bryan Goncalves, Lara Tomescu
• Honorable Mention: Colleen Schmid, Sophia Slavin.