AAUW Honors Girls from Four School Districts

Press Release: For immediate release

Contact: Carol Dubas

Phone number: 215- 275-6909

Email: cadubas@yahoo.com

Girls and women interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math are an

underrepresented minority, with women making up less than a quarter of the professionals

working in STEM careers in the U.S. In an effort to encourage young girls to pursue STEM

careers, the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Makefield Area Branch, honors seventh grade girls who have been designated by their teachers as

excelling in math and/or science.

On Monday May 1, 2017 at the Charles Boehm Middle School, forty-two young

female scholars were honored. Four local school districts, Council Rock,

Pennsbury, Morrisville and Neshaminy, sent their honorees, who were joined by their parents and teachers.

The forty two girls were recognized with certificates and gifts and encouraged to continue their math and science studies.

The following lists are the honorees from each of the four school districts.

Council Rock School District

Holland Middle School: Lauren Simon, Olivia Beisel, Sabrina Adler and Katie Burke.

Richboro Middle School: Shivani Kumar, Kelly Foy, Isabella Francisco and Rose Morgan.

Newtown Middle School: Katelyn (Kate) Logan, Maura Ott, and Hannah Smith.

Neshaminy School District

Carl Sandburg Middle School: Hannah Murray, Emily Bracey, Khushi Patel, and Prapti Patel

Poquessing Middle School: Elizbeth Stoykova, Janice Augastine, Nicole Kotchkina, and Jessica Urwiler.

Maple Point Middle School: Neha Kotha, Ohenmaa Ofosu-Mensah, Kristina Brown, Sophia Capecci, and Morgan Drass.

Pennsbury School District

Pennwood Middle School: Jamie Gilligan, and Zoe Heinicke

Charles Boehm Middle School: Anna Ye, Tashnuva Ahmed, Ashley Martillotti, Annabella Katz, Ainsley McClure, Hannah Hawkes

Willian Penn Middle School: Jessica Firestone, Rebecca Guloy, Anika Kaul, Courtney Cooper, Keya Patel and Lindsey DeMarinis.

Morrisville School District

Morrisville Middle School: Tafarah Cherilus, Valerie Duarte, Karen Hernandez-Perez and Kaitlin Dingle.

The keynote speaker for the evening was Kaitlin Rosen, senior chemist at the

Dow Chemical Company and her presentation was titled “From Volleyball Court to Chemistry Lab: My Path to a Career in Science”. Francine Block, a college

placement counselor, also gave an informative talk about college requirements

from a practical perspective.

The girls were awarded certificates of recognition from Steve Santasario’s office.

Gifts from the AAUW Makefield Area Branch were given to commemorate the girls achievements.

The evening concluded with the awarding of two college scholarships to

graduating High School seniors. Applicants were nominated by their guidance

counselors and had to be in the top 10% of their class.

The first scholarship recipient was Anna Zuckerman, from Morrisville

High School. In addition to her excellent academic record, which

includes many honors courses, she was captain of the Reading Olympics,

secretary of the Future Business Leaders of America, and active in the school

chorus, drama club and yearbook, as well as being chosen as Junior Canalperson

of the Morrisville Borough Council and participating in her church choir and

youth group. She also works as a cashier and as a babysitter. She has been a volunteer ESL tutor for Welcoming the Stranger, an organization that offers

classes for new immigrants. Anna has decided to devote life to

being an advocate for civil rights for all.

The second scholarship recipient was Emily Rosenfeld from Council Rock South

High School. In addition to her amazing academic record, including numerous

honors and AP courses, Emily held leadership positions in Athletes Helping

Athletes and the Autism Awareness Club and served as captain of the Varsity

Tennis Team. She was also treasurer of the National Honors Society and belonged to five other honors societies. Influenced by her recent experience in Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week, she has decided to study business in order to become a

business leader who both focuses on balance sheets and also makes a positive

impact on the world as an active and contributing community member. This fall

she will attend the University of Michigan where she plans to major in

business and minor in Spanish.

The Makefield Area Branch of the American Association of University

Women (AAUW) is a 501 (c) (3) organization that advances equity for women and girls. AAUW always welcomes new members.

For more Information please go to Makefield-pa.aauw.net or

Makefield-pa.aauw.net/contact/.