Ossining High School Senior Receives Prestigious “Rising Scientist” Award

Ossining High School senior Kylie Zarro has been selected to receive a 2017 Rising Scientist Award from the Child Mind Institute and the City University of New York Advanced Science Research Center.

Each spring, high schools in the New York metropolitan area nominate their best 11th-grade science student for the honor. The awards recognize outstanding students who show exceptional promise and interest in child and adolescent mental health or pediatric neuroscience, as well as a commitment to understanding and addressing difficult scientific questions. Each winner will receive a $2,000 scholarship.

Several students at OHS filled out applications for the award last spring, and Science Research Program co-teachers Valerie Holmes and Angelo Piccirillo selected Kylie’s to submit.

“Based upon Kylie’s involvement in numerous extracurricular pursuits promoting autism awareness as well as the research she was involved with at the NYU Langone Health Center, which focuses on improving social skills among adolescents with autism disorders, we knew she was a great fit for the award criteria,” the teachers said. “We were elated to learn the news that she was selected.”

Kylie, a student in the award-winning Science Research Program, has been investigating how a certain type of therapy can reduce the social deficits associated with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders. The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills – PEERS – helps children and teens learn social skills that will benefit them in making and keeping friends.

“I have an interest in autism in general because my brother, who is 14, was diagnosed, and I’ve seen him and others on the spectrum struggle socially,” she said.

“I’ve realized that certain therapies and behavioral approaches have been more effective than others. The structure of PEERS and the incorporation of parents in the therapy are what make it so promising, unique and interesting to me,” she added.

Kylie found that the PEERS program, which was developed at UCLA, is offered at NYU Langone and volunteered at the hospital. She commuted to New York City on Monday afternoons during her junior year. She surveyed the participants before and after the 14-week PEERS programs to see how they were progressing in therapy, and she used the data she collected for her research project.

Kylie, who is 16, said being at NYU Langone helped crystalize what she wants to do when she gets out of school. “I want to do clinical psychology when I grow up and work with children with special needs,” she said.

Outside of her academic work, Kylie is on the varsity gymnastics team at OHS and is a member of the National Honor Society. She has spent her summers volunteering as a camp counselor, which made her realize she loves working with children. She also works part time at a drugstore near her house. She has an older sister in addition to her brother.

The Rising Scientists will receive their awards during a ceremony at the Child Mind Institute’s “On the Shoulders of Giants” scientific symposium in October. The winners, their parents and faculty sponsors also will attend a breakfast at the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center. Kylie will present her work at the CUNY event.