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Midwood Science students collect 3 gold medals at ACT-SO, Kiandra Peart wins gold in Entrepreneurship and Poetry

Posted on Monday, May 7, 2018 by for ACT-SO, Awards.

Saturday, April 21, 2018 marked the 30th time the three New York City branches of the NAACP sponsored ACT-SO — the Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological, and Scientific Olympics. ACT-SO is an "Olympics of the Mind" with up to 32 different categories and chances to win medals and cash prizes. This year's New York City ACT-SO was once again held at George Wingate High School — it's home for most of the past 30 events. Awards were announced on Monday, May 7, 2018 at St. Francis College in Downtown Brooklyn.

2018 marks the first time Midwood High School entered and medalled in each of the five major categories: STEM, humanities, fine arts, performing arts, and business. Kiandra Peart lead the team, earning a pair of gold medals in Entrepreneurship and Poetry and a bronze medal in Sculpture. Calvin Huynh, Rana Mohamed, and Saba Iqbal brought home gold in Microbiology, Engineering, and Earth & Space Sciences, respectively. Soanne Saint Victor earned bronze in Biology and Instrumental Classical. The total medal count for Midwood was 5 gold, 3 silver, and 8 bronze.

Kiandra, Calvin, and Rana will be competing in the National ACT-SO July 13–15. The National ACT-SO is a part of the NAACP Annual Convention, which is being held this year at the Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas. With over 8000 delegates expected to attend Kiandra, Calvin, and Rana are sure to have an exciting time.

Still group photo

Gold Medal Winners

  • Kiandra Peart won a gold medal in Entrepreneurship for her independent business "Kustoms By Ki", a second gold medal in Poetry for her composition entitled "The Nation", and a bronze medal in sculpture.
  • Calvin Huynh won a gold medal in Microbiology for his project "Conditions that promote the sub-cellular migration of nucleolin (NCL) to the cell surface." Calvin worked under the supervision of Dr. Anjana D. Saxena in the Department of Biology at Brooklyn College.
  • Rana Mohamed won a gold medal in Engineering for her project "Energy monitoring systems for mobile robotic systems." Rana worked under the supervision of Dr. Joo H. Kim in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at NYU Tandon School of Engineering.
  • Saba Iqbal won a gold medal in Earth & Space Sciences for her project "Indicating an atmospheric mercury pollution source using moss as a biomonitor." Saba worked under the supervision of Dr. Anthony Carpi and Dr. Erin Mann in the Department of Sciences at John Jay College.

Silver Medal Winners

  • Jennifer Duong won a silver medal in Chemistry for her project "Loading lauric acid into electrospun polystyrene nanofibers." Jennifer worked under the supervision of Dr. Ping Lu and Ms. Rawan Ghaban in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Long Island University.
  • Sabina Kubayeva won a silver medal in Medicine & Health for a project she completed with her partner Elizabeth Joseph entitled "Layer-specific decreases in hippocampal PKMζ protein in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease." Elizabeth and Sabina worked under the supervision of Dr. Todd Sacktor and Dr. Panayiotis Tsokas in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center.
  • Benjamin Nguyen won a silver medal in Computer Science for his project "Climate controlled Raspberry Pi Model B video looper via temperature sensor and PC fan controlled by Arduino Uno." Benjamin worked under the supervision of Dr. Xiaohai (Richard) Li in the Department of Computer Engineering Technology at the New York City College of Technology.

Animated group photo

Bronze Medal Winners

  • Soanne Saint Victor won a bronze medal in Biology for her project "The nest composition of monk parakeets." Soanne worked under the supervision of Dr. Frank Grasso in the Department of Psychology at Brooklyn College. She also won a second bronze medal in Instrumental Classical for a performance on the steel pan.
  • Hebah Jihad won a bronze medal in Biology for her project "The effect of symmetry on the perception of beauty." Hebah worked under the supervision of Mr. Glenn Elert in the Physical Science Department at Midwood High School.
  • Albina Kukic & Wendy Lliguichuzhca won a bronze medal in Medicine & Health for their project "Altruism in adolescence measured by empathy, parental influence, peer influence, and societal influence." Albina and Wendy worked under the supervision of Professor Emeritus Dr. Uwe Gielen and Dr. Sung Hun Kim in the Department of Psychology at St. Francis College.
  • Kathy Mania won a bronze medal in Earth & Space Sciences for a project she completed with her partner Beien Lin entitled "Soil structure and heavy metals in engineered soils for stormwater management." Kathy and Beien worked under the supervision of Dr. Zhongqi (Joshua) Cheng and Dr. Maha Deeb Collet in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Brooklyn College.
  • Naila Mirza won a bronze medal in Biology for her project "Effect of season on the group size of the Myiopsitta monachus." Naila worked under the supervision of Dr. Frank Grasso in the Department of Psychology at Brooklyn College.
  • Vincent Wang & Jessie Zheng won a bronze medal in Engineering for their project "Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue using electrospun nanofibers." Jessie and Vincent worked under the supervision of Dr. Ping Lu and Ms. Simone Murray in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Long Island University.