Mawrginalia Archives
April 2017

Mawrtian Minutes

Two Seniors Named National Merit Finalists


Congratulations to seniors Elizabeth Macksey and Katherine Nurminsky, who have been named National Merit Finalists by the College Board!

In total, 11 members of the Class of 2017 were recognized by the National Merit Program and the College Board as either Commended Scholars, National Merit Semifinalists/Finalists or National Hispanic Scholars. Bryn Mawr is the only girls' school in the Baltimore area represented in the National Merit competition this year at the Semifinalist/Finalist level.

Macksey and Nurminsky were named National Merit Semifinalists in the fall. As Finalists, they are eligible to receive two of the 7,400 National Merit Scholarships available. Seven other students — Christine Blackshaw, Rachel Bogin, Natasha Dada, Nyx Deane-Polyak, Claire Dunbar, Maddy Unger and Anna Wu — were named Commended Scholars. Finally, Alex McComas and Sophia Yazigi were named National Hispanic Scholars.

The National Merit Scholarship program is open to all high school students who complete the PSAT/NMSQT by the close of their junior year. More than 1,600,000 students take the test each year. This year, the top 50,000 — only 3.5 percent of all test-takers — qualified for National Merit acknowledgment. Sixty-eight percent of those students were subsequently named Commended Scholars, while the 16,000 highest-scoring students went on to compete for scholarships as National Merit Semifinalists. From those, less than half were selected as finalists.

To achieve recognition as a National Hispanic Scholar, a student must be of Hispanic descent and score in the top 5,000 of the approximately 124,000 students taking the PSAT/NMSQT. Institued by the College Board in 1983, the goal of the National Hispanic Scholars program is to identify outstanding Hispanic high school students.

Bryn Mawr Junior Receives Grant from Johns Hopkins for Film Project


Bryn Mawr junior Sage Okolo has received a production grant from Johns Hopkins University for her film proposal entitled "Alongside the Car." The grant, provided by the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film and Media to help create documentaries, movies, TV series and more in Baltimore, is worth $40,000 - $70,000 and will fund the creation of Okolo's film. She is one of nine Baltimore upcoming artists selected for the Fund's Bold Voices, New Paradigms Incubator program.

Okolo is an avid filmmaker who has often lent her talents to Bryn Mawr theater and arts projects. Most recently she served as the student director of Bryn Mawr's Upper School play, "Our Town," and created original multimedia to accompany Bryn Mawr's adaptation of the iconic play.

In a Baltimore Sun article, Roberto Busó-García, the director of the program at Hopkins, reflected on the innovative nature of the projects chosen to receive funding. "Innovation is about telling stories that have not been told, or telling stories that have been told by people who don’t usually tell them,” he said. “All of these projects respond to that.”

Special Guests on Campus


Recently, Bryn Mawr welcomed two special guests to campus: Professor Lucy Ann Hurston, pictured at left in a ninth grade English class; and author Clare Vanderpool, pictured at the fifth grade Newbery Luncheon. Professor Hurston is the niece of celebrated author Zora Neale Hurston. While on campus, she met with several English classes and presented a convocation speech about her experience discovering her aunt's work and her own study of sociology. She is the chair of the Sociology and Sign Language department at Manchester Community College in Connecticut.

Clare Vanderpool is the winner of the 2011 Newbery Medal for her first novel, "Moon Over Manifest." She visited the fifth grade for the annual Newbery Luncheon, the culmination of the girls' study of Newbery Medal-winning books. Students had a wonderful time talking in their classroom with Mrs. Vanderpool in the morning and then hearing a presentation from her over lunch about her career path and what it is like to be a writer. Special thanks to the fifth grade parents for providing a delicious lunch for the event!

Cum Laude Society Inducts 15 New Members


On the morning of April 3, seven students from the Class of 2017 joined eight students from the Class of 2018 as inductees into the Bryn Mawr chapter of the Cum Laude Society.

Seniors Kimaya Basu, Christine Blackshaw, Katie Coiro, Stella Kazibwe, Jwana Khatib, Anjalee Rutah and Ran Yan and juniors Clare Booth, Sarah Cahn, Alice Carnell, Ellie Citron, Margaret King, Maggie Smith, Serena Thaw-Poon and Caroline Troy were recognized for their scholarly accomplishments as they were welcomed into the society. Current senior members, inducted last year, were also recognized: Emilie Berman, Nyx Deane-Polyak, Anum Haque, Elizabeth Macksey, Sefa Santos-Powell, Xierui Shen, Charlotte Simpson and Maddy Unger.

Established in 1906 as the Alpha Delta Tau fraternity, the Cum Laude Society is dedicated to honoring scholastic achievement in secondary schools. It has more than 380 chapters around the world, including in the United States, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Canada, England, and several other European countries. Each year, approximately 4,000 high school juniors and seniors are inducted into the Society. Membership is selective; schools are allowed to induct a maximum of 20 percent of the senior class. Members are chosen based on academic record, good character, honor and integrity.

Celebrate 15 Re-Mawr-kable Years!

 
Join us on Friday, May 5, 2017, from 6:30-9:30 p.m. in the Graduation Garden for a complimentary evening of libations, global delights, music, and other surprises, all to celebrate Maureen Walsh’s 15 years as headmistress and “All Things Bryn Mawr.”
 
Alumnae, parents, faculty, staff and friends of Bryn Mawr are invited, so a fun-filled evening is certain!
 
Kindly register here by April 21, 2017.
 
Located in Baltimore, Maryland, The Bryn Mawr School is a private all-girls pre-kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school with a coed preschool for ages 2 months through 5 years. Bryn Mawr provides students with exceptional educational opportunities on a beautiful 26-acre campus within the city limits. Inquisitive girls, excellent teaching, strong student-teacher relationships and a clear mission sustain our vibrant school community where girls always come first.