Sleepy Hollow High School (SHHS) seniors win awards in this year’s Westchester-Rockland Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (WR-JSHS). The group of scholars presented years of scientific research in impressive 12-minute presentations on Saturday, January 20, 2024.
The Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) is a Department of Defense sponsored STEM program (U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense and the U.S. Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force) that encourages high school students to conduct original research in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and publicly recognizes students for outstanding achievement. During the competition individual students compete for scholarships and recognition by presenting the results of their original research efforts before a panel of judges and an audience of their peers.
Eight seniors from SHHS competed against 40 districts and 378 students throughout the region.
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Alex Adams - Assessing the Environmental Impact of Drone Delivery Services: A Comparative Analysis with Traditional Methods
Maya Batheja - Exploring the Effects of Racial and Gender Biases on Perceived Intelligence
Emily Clayton - Evaluating the Role of Microorganisms in Vermicast
Cynthia Pintado - Exploring the Relationship Between Academic Self Concept and Teacher and Peer Metaperceptions in Latinx Students
Sumiran Margolis - Evaluating the Relationship Between Choice Importance and Choice Overload in Adolescents
Joseph “Jai” Weitzen - Discovery and Validation of Tumor-Specific and Tumor-Associated HLA-Presented Peptides in Glioblastoma for Use in Immunotherapies
Dmitri Wild-Arons - Analyzing Energetic Binding of FDA Approved Psilocin Analogs When Docked With 5-HT2 Receptors: A Two-Part In Silico Study
Ben Zifchock - Evaluating binding affinities of potential JAK1 and pan-JAK inhibitors
They have been working on their projects for nearly three-years and have been perfecting their presentations since early December.
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“The skills that they have learned are incredible, their growth, where they started in sophomore year to where they ended up is amazing. I see their passion coming through, I see what they care about,” said Michele Zielinski, Science Teacher at Sleepy Hollow High School.
Each student was paired with a mentor throughout the process. The goal of JSHS aims to expand the horizons of research-oriented students by exposing them to opportunities in the academic, industrial, and governmental communities.
SHHS claimed two first place local winners, Maya Batheja and Emily Clayton, and one second place regional winner, Joseph Weitzen. Weitzen will head to the state championships in Albany at UHS (UAlbany in the High School) located at the University of Albany, which will take place on February 28 and 29, 2024.
“I was surprised and humbled to have won because I watched all of the other presentations and they were all really good,” said Emily Clayton.
