In March, a piece of artwork created by Sanford middle school student Agata “Aggie” Favilla will appear on The Big Screen Plaza, a giant 30 x 16 ft. outdoor LED screen which showcases artistic talent for New York visitors to view and appreciate. During the National Art Education Association (NAEA) annual convention March 1st through 4th, the Big Screen Plaza will feature artwork from Artsonia/NAEA art teachers. Sanford art instructor Nina Silverman submitted Aggie’s work which was selected to be one of 500 pieces showcased. Congratulations to Aggie and Mrs. Silverman for their accomplishments.

In March, nine lower and middle school students will be participating in Delaware’s American Choral Director’s Association Children’s Honor Choir. The students will join other singers from around the state during a two-day festival that culminates with a concert on Saturday, March 17th at 4pm at P.S. Dupont Middle School in Wilmington. Congratulations to: Lilly Bachtle, Maggie Bobka, Aggie Favilla, Taylor Gerard, CK Matthews, Grace Matthews, Abby Wahl, Jenna Warren, and William Zimmer.

Byron Lambrou has been selected as a candidate for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program. Established in 1964, this prestigious program recognizes some of the nation’s most distinguished graduating seniors for their accomplishments in a variety of areas including outstanding scholarship, leadership, creativity, and service. Byron is now being considered for selection as one of 500 semifinalists. The Presidential Scholars Program, which selects up to 141 scholars annually, is one of the nation’s highest honors for high-school students.

Sanford middle and upper students were honored this weekend at the regional Scholastic Art & Writing Awards ceremony in Dover, Delaware. Our award recipients included: Silvana Alfieri, Maude Ceruso, Haley Dabkowski, Laura Davies, Zach Jarome, William Landis, Nick Meehan, Jack Mecca, Guinevere Pitcher, Tian Qiu, Alexandra Rubin, Peter Sabini, Craig Waegerle, Emily Widdoes, and Riley Wohlman. Each year, the Scholastic program identifies and documents outstanding achievement of young artists and writers in the visual and literary arts.

Nineteen Sanford students and alumni have earned the designation of AP Scholar by the College Board in recognition of their exceptional achievement on college level Advanced Placement Program (AP) Exams. The AP Scholars are: Jasmine Caulfield, Zhengyi Chen, Stephanie Cramer, Cindy Duan (recognized as a National AP Scholar), Charles Frick, Ocean Gibson, Katherine Grant, Josiah Hannon, Phoebe Hering, Jacqueline Kalil, Joshua Katz, Thaddeus Potter, Nataliya Prokhnesvska, Emily Simonton, Hannah Wagner, Peter Walpole, Ishani Winston, Madelyn Wojnisz, and Chenyi Yang.

Fourth graders advance to the next stage
The Wizard Warriors, a group of ten Sanford students, have qualified to participate in the First State FLL Champion’s tournament Saturday, Jan. 28th at the University of Delaware at the Bob Carpenter Center. The team earned its spot following a regional competition at Oxford High School involving 44 teams from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. The competition was based on core values and teamwork, a research project, and a robotic design and competition section. This program, supported by our community of educators and parents, is one that enhances Sanford’s science, technology, and math programs, as well as teaching the true value of teamwork. Click here to see images from the regional competition.

Sanford basketball player Sabri Thompson was recently named WDEL’s Male High School Athlete of the Week. A Sanford junior and one of the captains of this year’s team, Sabri says he’d like to major in engineering in college. Click here to view the WDEL segment.

The January issue of Delaware Today features a profile of Sanford Head of School Mark Anderson. Click here to check out the story.

Moves one step closer to $25,000 college scholarship

Markus Bosick recently won the school-level competition in the 24th annual National Geographic Bee. The school winners, including Markus, will now take a written test in hopes of qualifying for state-level competition in March. During the final round of competition in May, the first-place national winner will receive a $25,000 college scholarship, a lifetime membership in the Society, and a trip to the Galápagos Islands.