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Fulton Science Academy Destination Imagination Team Is Going Global

Congratulations to members of FSA's Destination Imagination Team. This year, we are delighted to report that three teams have advanced to globals at the University of Tennessee in May! Way to go, kids! 

1st place in the Service Learning Challenge  Middle School Level

• Isra, Tanmaya, & Sanika (not pictured)

1st place in the Fine Arts challenge High School Level

• Amisha, Katarina & Zeynep 

1st place in the Improv Challenge High School Level

• Chloe & FSA Alum, Joe

Rising Stars teams (K-2nd):

This is a non-competitive level, but all teams really earned their participation medals! This is the first time that FSA has had teams participate at the Rising Stars Level, and we had four!

Students did an absolutely fantastic job developing very creative presentations using simple and complex machines to help 'Save the Day!'

• Eagles - Nathan, Collin, Rafi, Nandika, Minia & Shuban
• Magical Marshmallows - Akhil, Samaira, Kovid & Amrit
• Creative Instincts - Anish, Aryan, Anya, & Arush
• Perfect & Beautiful - Semra, Meliha, Sheza, & Isabella

Middle school teams:

• Lightening Ladies - Kubra, Karina, Sarayu, Suhani, & Hannah, won 2nd place in 'Vanished!' challenge, Fine Arts category. They also won the coveted Renaissance Award!

• MI-7 - Janon, Gavin, Sana, Amrita, Anastasia, Spiros, & Grace, won 2nd place in 'Top Secret' challenge, Scientific category.

Elementary school teams (3rd-5th):

• DI Daredevils - Tanish, Aman, Vishnu A., Vishnu R., & Neal won 2nd place in '3-Peat' challenge, Improv category.

• Vanishing Victors - Amal, Brinda, Sanjana, & Sarah R. won 2nd place in 'Vanished!' challenge, Fine Arts category.

Honorable Mentions:

• The Green Girls - Lina & Khadija placed 4th in their category.

• Building Bash - Myles, Sam, Akarsh, Raj, Varun, Satvik, & Kerim placed 5th in their category.

• Color Wizards - April, Medha, & Miriam placed 9th in their category.

• Men in Black - Vishruth, Aaditya, Abhinav, Siddarth, Atharv, & Khalil placed 10th in their category.

• Cool Producers - Anna, Meher, Baasel, & Sohum placed 13th in their category.

For Outstanding Design, Engineering, Execution, Performance

TEAM LIGHTNING LADIES won the Renaissance Award (one of just 3 special awards given out)
"On our journey we sometimes encounter exceptional travelers who entertain and enlighten us along the way. The Renaissance Award recognizes those among us who demonstrate extraordinary amounts of effort and preparation in their solutions or outstanding skill in engineering, design or performance. While the destination is creativity, these fellow travelers make the journey itself memorable."

Fulton Science Academy Wins At State Chess Tournament

FSA's K-1 Chess Team won FIRST PLACE during the state chess tournament yesterday! Additionally, the K-3 chess team was a co-champion for first place with three other teams and finished in third place using a tie breaker! K-5 also won third place. Wow!

K-1 Team - clear first winning all their matches. State Champions!

• Vehbi C., Christopher G., Aaron L., Omer O., Kovid P.

K-3 Team - tied for first place with 3 more teams, all the teams are Co- Champions

• Mateo G., Lucas M., Noah M., Dheemant P., Darsh P.C., Daaniyal R., Varun S., Taran S., Archer W.

K-5 Team - tied for second place, getting the 3rd place trophy on tiebreaks

• Ipsita B., Huseyin C., Tejash G., Myles M., Satvik O., Varsha S., Bhavin S.

The school's chess program, led by International Chess Master, Carlos Perdomo, supports a love of chess for children beginning as early as Kindergarten. In addition to coaching FSA students, Coach Carlos founded Chess Atlanta and has led University teams to great victories, including Emory's prior triumphs over Stanford, Duke, and Yale.

To learn more about Chess Atlanta, please click here: https://www.chessatlanta.com.

Fulton Science Academy High School Science Olympiad At State

Fulton Science Academy competed in its first Division C State Science Olympiad Tournament and it was a great experience!

Fulton Science Academy students competed in the Division C Science Olympiad State Tournament hosted by Emory University last Saturday. Twenty-four of the state’s top teams qualified for the tournament based on the results of eight Regional Tournaments.

“Since this is the first year we have had a high school, this was the first year we’ve competed in Division C,” explained head coach Pam Walsh. “Science Olympiad rules allow Division C teams to have 15 members, seven of whom can be twelfth graders. Because our school is so small, we requested special permission from the State Director to include a couple of eighth graders on our team.”

With both Destination Imagination and the Math Team competing this weekend, even with two eighth-graders, FSA managed to put together a team of eleven students. Chloe R. spent the morning competing in Science Olympiad and after two events left to compete in Destination Imagination. Nevertheless, with some students competing by themselves (most events allow a team of two students) the team managed to participate in all twenty-three events. What incredible perseverance our students demonstrated!

“We had two goals for this first year,” explained head Coach Gloria Stathos. “First, we wanted to compete in all twenty-three events and second, we wanted to qualify for the state tournament. Qualifying was no easy task as there were 143 teams in the state. To place 18th in the state at this tournament was quite an accomplishment for our first year.”

“We are very proud of our students,” said Building Events coach Yasin Parlak. “We had a number of events in which we finished in the top ten. Next year we will have a more experienced team and our placement should improve. ”

The following students finished in the top ten in their events:

3rd Place Hovercraft – Vishal and Tushar (pictured)

6th Place Microbe Mission – Ethan and Sanjeev

7th Place Anatomy and Physiology – Ethan and Sanjeev

8th Place Rocks and Minerals – Nicholas and Sanjeev

9th Place Towers – Maahi and Bahriye

9th Place Ecology – Nicholas and Chaitanya

Thank you to all of our students, parents, and coaches for all of your efforts, not only this weekend but every weekend!

Fulton Science Academy Mathletes Win Varsity Level Tournament

Congratulations to FSA's Mathletes who today clinched FIRST place in the Varsity Math Competition hosted by Westlake High School. Under the tutelage of Coach Sema Duzyol, team members continue to deliver impressive results throughout the region. Their smiles say it all; hard work really does pay off in the long game!

Congratulations for placing in the Top 10 individually

2nd Place- Vishaal R

4th Place- Charlie F

Other team members include Peyton L and Tyler H.

"Our team was comprised of one 9th grader and three 8th graders, so the results are particularly impressive for a varsity level competition that is typically made up of 11th and 12th graders," said coach Duzyol.

Way to go, guys!!!

Fulton Science Academy Blank Family Foundation Visits FSA

On Thursday, March 23, Fulton Science Academy proudly hosted Ms. Ayana Gabriel, Program Officer from the Arthur Blank Family Foundation in charge of the foundation's portfolio of STEAM funding. The purpose of Ms. Gabriel's visit was to tour the school, learn more about our short and long term vision, and discuss possible collaborative projects between the two organizations.

Formed in 1995, The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation promotes innovative solutions to transform the lives of youth and their families, seeking results that move communities beyond what seems possible today. One strategic funding initiative is their emphasis on the expansion of STEAM education in the greater Atlanta area, including the Pipeline Project.

Over the past decade, the Foundation has invested nearly $10 million into efforts to improve the quality of life in the neighborhoods on the west side of Atlanta. To further its work in additional areas of need, the Foundation has created the Westside Neighborhood Prosperity Fund, a $15 million long-term commitment to invest in catalytic projects that will ignite positive change and transform both people and place in Atlanta’s Westside communities.

Mr. Blank, chairman of the Foundation, co-founded The Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, in 1978 and retired from the company as co-chairman in 2001. Through the Foundation and his family’s personal giving, Mr. Blank has granted more than $300 million to various charitable organizations.

Fulton Science Academy Students Raise More Than $1,500 For ST. Baldrick's Foundation

We are happy to say that FSA raised $1,584 for the 

St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Our student council members did a great job motivating their peers to raise money for such an important cause. The student council members shared information with their homerooms and encouraged everyone to purchase St. Baldrick’s shirts and to donate money to the cause, which aims to eradicate childhood cancer.

As promised, if the school raised $1,500 or more, Mr. Parlak agreed to shave his head. Please stay tuned for more details on this event!

You can learn more about this organization as well as continue to donate online. https://www.stbaldricks.org/ Thank you to everyone who made this event such a success!

Fulton Science Academy Supports Alpharetta Symphony Orchestra Concert

Congratulations to Dr. Eric Hawk, FSA Music Teacher, and Conductor of the Alpharetta Symphony Orchestra, on a very successful inaugural concert at Alpharetta First United Methodist Church on Saturday, March 18. Several orchestra students attended the event, assisting as ushers. It was a lovely evening!

Fulton Science Academy Summer Camps

We are pleased to inform you that once again we have scheduled severalwonderful summer camps at our school.

Fulton Science Academy summer camps provide fun, hands-on activities in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics. Camps develop new skills, expand creative thinking, and foster team building and new friendships.

With the exception of the FSA's Summer Leadership Camp (which is open to FSA students only), our camps are open to ALL Georgia students.

Please CLICK HERE to see a detailed list of camps that will be offered at our school this summer.

Fulton Science Academy PI Digit Memorization Contest Winners

Category: ElementarSchools Grades

5th grader Fayo A. placed 1st with 140 digits

3rd grader Siddarth S. placed 2nd with 105 digits

4th grader Sonia H. placed 3rd with 105 digits (grade level is used as a tie breaker)

Category: Middle School Grades

8th grader Vishaal R. placed 1st with 233 digits. Vishaal is also overall school winner.

6th grader Tejaz A. placed 2nd with 140 digits.

7th grader Sid T. placed 3rd with 127 digits.

Category High School Grades

9th grader Vaani B. placed 1st with 177 digits.

10th grader Vishal B. placed 2nd with 75 digits

9th grader Tawfiq A. placed 3rd with 25 digits

And in PRE-K Cooper C recited 13 digits- wow!

The students listed below won the PI DAY HAT DESIGN CONTEST of 2017!

Category 9-10

1st place: Chloe R. (10th grade), 2nd place: Katarina G. (9th grade), 3rd place: Sanjeev U. (9th grade)

Category 7-8

1st place: Giles S. (8th grade), 2nd place: Catherine A. (7th grade), 3rd place: Logan K. (7th grade)

Category 5-6

1st place: Lucie B. (5th grade), 2nd place: Jake F. (6th grade), 3rd place: Ben J. (6th grade)

Category 3-4

1st place: Neerav S. (4th grade), 2nd place: Sarah R. (4th grade), 3rd place: Myles M. (4th grade)

Fulton Science Academy PI Day Celebration

Thank you to our wonderful Mustang Support Agency (MSO) parents for organizing the biggest pi day pie ever! What we think may be the world's largest pizza, brought in from "Pie in the Sky Pizzaria" in Roswell, created so many smiles during lunchtime on 3/14/17. We love seeing the joyful smiles of our students and can't thank our dedicated MSO parents enough for keeping FSA a fun learning environment for our students through very special days such as Pi Day.

Fulton Science Academy Robotics Team Continues Preparations For UK Championship

Members of FLL Robotics Team #7298 (Control + Alt + Delete) continue their preparations to head overseas this June as the first team ever chosen by the state of Georgia to compete in the International FLL Open Championship at University of Bath, Bath, UK, June 21-25, 2017. The girls have received numerous prestigious FLL robotics awards during the 2016-2017 school year, including the Grand Champion's Award, the Best Robot Design, and Best Robot Performance trophies.

In addition to the creation of a robot and overseeing its performance in FLL assigned missions, the girls have been tasked with solving an issue involving "Animal Allies." Recognizing the harmful side effects of pesticides that are used to treat mosquito outbreaks, including the ZIKA virus, the team invented two different bat houses using a 3D printer to attract and retain bats who are a natural remedy to removing the mosquito population.

The team has secured perfect scores in several of their tournaments. They continue to refine and improve their work as they approach their trip to England, spending five hours together on Saturdays, as well as time after school.

Estimated costs for this trip are $10,000 so team members have created a specific website to explain their journey and collect secure, tax-deductible donations that will help to cover fees.

Sadly, there remains a disproportionate percentage of women who pursue STEM careers. To show your support of FSA's desire to encourage more female students to study STEM, please consider making a gift; www.donate.fultonscienceacademy.org/robotics. Corporate sponsorships are also encouraged and are fully tax deductible. Thank you!

Fulton Science Academy Second Grader Clinches 1st Place in Walton Elementary Math Fest

Congratulations to FSA Second Grader, Varun G., who won FIRST PLACE overall out of 93 students on Saturday, March 18th,2017, at the Walton Elementary Math Fest, a math tournament designed for 4th and 5th graders.

Varun is also a nationally recognized chess champion whose smile truly lights up a room. Way to go, buddy!

Fulton Science Academy Math Team Clinches 1st at Chamblee Middle School Math Tournament

Congratulations to our incredible FSA Mathletes who placed FIRST last Saturday at the Chamblee Math Tournament! Even better, all four FSA contenders placed in the top ten as well.

What we find most impressive is the incredible diplomacy and professionalism these students show on a weekly basis...towards their teammates and towards other teams. Winning is great, but good sportsmanship is even better!

FSA Team members who participated in this tournament are Richard, Kevin, Arnav, Nick, Tejaz, Nina, Pranav, Shivam, Neel, Akshadha, and Pranavkrishan. These students demonstrate so many valuable character traits under the tutelage of Team Coach and Math Department Chair, Ms. Duzyol.

Way to go Math Mustangs! Great job, team! Your FSA family loves you and we are so proud of you!

Fulton Science Academy Student Places 5th in State Spelling Bee

On Friday, March 17th, 8th-grade student, Arul S., made his way to Georgia State University to compete in the State Spelling Bee with 19 other top spellers.

After several oral rounds, Arul placed fifth overall. This wasn't his first rodeo, however! He advanced to the state level once before as a fifth grader at FSA.

Many congratulations to Arul for an impressive performance!

Fulton Science Academy Science Olympiad Team placed second in the GA State Science Olympiad Tournament and Advanced to National

The Fulton Science Academy Science Olympiad Team placed second in the GA State Science Olympiad Tournament held at South Cobb High School on March 18. Along with the second place trophy, the team received an invitation to compete in the National Science Olympiad Tournament to be held May 20 at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. This is the third consecutive year the team has qualified for Nationals and the seventh time in FSA history!

“We are thrilled to be representing Georgia at the National Tournament,” said Science Olympiad head coach Pam Walsh. “The National Tournament is an amazing event; not only for the intense competition but also for all the geeky-nerdy science activities that go along with it.”

“Qualifying for the tournament gets tougher each year,” explained Head Coach, Gloria Stathos. “This year there were 125 middle school teams in the state. Twenty-nine of these teams advanced to the state tournament, and only the top two teams are invited to Nationals. We medaled in 16 of the 23 events and there were only three events in which we didn’t place in the top ten. Each of the 14 students on our team contributed to our victory by earning at least one medal.”

Walsh continued, "FSA students really performed well. Our students were so professional and well-prepared for this tournament. Science Olympiad prides itself on not being a trivia contest but instead requiring students to show critical thinking and process skills, so there are always unexpected questions and problems, but our students worked through them. We could not be prouder.”

The following students placed among the top 10 in the state for their event:

1st Place: Vihan and Logan 

Hovercraft

Coached by Mr. Kersey 

1st Place: Sophie and Sid

Road Scholar

Coached by Mrs. Stathos 

1st Place: Jay and Arul

Fast Facts

Coached by Mrs. Sanders

1st Place: Sophie and Vihan

Write It, Do It

Coached by Mrs. Stathos 

2nd Place: Jay and Arul

Bottle Rockets

Coached by Mr. Parlak 

2nd Place: Sophie and Sid

Dynamic Planet 

Coached by Mrs. Walsh

2nd Place: Bella and Arham

Ecology 

Coached by Mrs. Butler 

2nd Place: Shourya and Bella

Invasive Species 

Coached by Mrs. Butler 

2nd Place: Chance and Holden

Optics 

Coached by Mr. Sanders

2nd Place: Holden and Jay

Reach for the Stars

Coached by Mrs. Walsh 

2nd Place: Shourya and Sid

Scrambler

Coached by Mr. Parlak 

3rd Place: Karen and Navina

Disease Detectives

Coached by Mrs. Bhatt and Mrs. Lewis

3rd Place: Karen and Shourya

Rocks and Minerals 

Coached by Mrs. Walsh

4th Place: Chance and Navina

Food Science

Coached by Mrs. Crigler 

4th Place: Vihan and Logan

Mission Possible 

Coached by Mr. Kersey

4th Place – Isabelle and Chance

Meteorology – coached by Mrs. Walsh

Fulton Science Academy MathCounts Team Advanced to National

Today, Fulton Science Academy's Math Team advanced to Nationals by placing FIRSToverall at the State Mathcounts Competition.

Holden W. placed first individually, with Vishaal R. securing a fifth place finish. FSA had an impressive two students place in top ten and, therefore, qualified to participate in final countdown round.

At the end of the day, Holden placed third in the countdown round, otherwise known as the "tie breaker round."

We are very pleased to announce that the top four students from Georgia (each representing a different school) will advance to the National Mathcounts Competition, May 13-15, in Orlando. Coach Duzyol will continue to support this incredible team of Mathletes, who thrive under her guidance.

What an exciting day with well-deserved results for our students. Great job, Math Mustangs!

Fulton Science Academy Welcomes Mrs. Kandice Ivarie

FULTON SCIENCE ACADEMY WELCOMES NEW ELEMENTARY CURRICULUM COORDINATOR FOR 2017-2018 SCHOOL YEAR

Fulton Science Academy is pleased to announce that Mrs. Kandice Ivarie will assume the position of Elementary Curriculum Coordinator and Administrative Team Member, effective August 1, 2017. Ivarie currently serves as Curriculum Support Teacher and Administrative Team Member at Birmingham Falls Elementary School in Milton, GA.

Ivarie will bring more than a decade of education and leadership experience to her role at Fulton Science Academy.

As Elementary Curriculum Coordinator of Fulton Science Academy, Ivarie will assist the general education teachers in translating curriculum into meaningful, educational experiences for students in grades K-5. Additionally, she will work with teachers to maximize efficiency in the organization and implementation of curriculum, serving as a role model, coach, and trainer for best practices. She will also play a vital role in the collaboration of elementary, middle, and high school curriculum coordinators.

Ivarie commented, “Fulton Science Academy Private School has created a rich learning environment where every child’s uniqueness is embraced. Students’ individual strengths are recognized and developed, which is key to building happy, caring, and confident future leaders. When entering the school, you get a clear sense that FSA is very much a family. I look forward to working with this dedicated team in its quest to build a model school. Learning should be fun, engaging, and memorable for children. I am thrilled to be joining a highly respected elementary team who works daily to make these characteristics a reality!”

Currently, Ivarie is in charge of curriculum support at Birmingham Falls ES. She holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education. She obtained her Talented and Gifted Certification in 2008, and holds a variety of training certifications. In her spare time outside of the educational arena, Ivarie enjoys spending time with her family.

Principal Sener commented, "Part of our school’s natural evolution included adding this position, and to have such a well-respected educational leader within the community willing to fill this role is a true gift. Her energy is so positive and her collaboration skills speak for themselves. She will help deliver us one step closer towards our dream of being a model school; one that sets a high standard and demonstrates what is possible in education, not only in the U.S., but abroad as well.”

Welcome to the FSA Family, Mrs. Ivarie! We are so happy to have you as part of our team!

Fulton Science Academy Weekly Newsletter - March 30, 2017

PRINCIPAL'S CORNER

https://www.smore.com/xq8sb-fulton-science-academy

Dear Friends, Family, and FSA Supporters:

I will keep it short this week as words cannot express the immense pride I feel for FSA as I reflect on yet another outstanding weekend of competitions and achievements.

For the first time in FSAPS history, three academic teams advanced to nationals during just one weekend. WOW!

Our amazing Science Olympiad Team advanced to Nationals this weekend and will now compete in Dayton, Ohio, May 20 – 22, 2017.

Our incredible Math Olympiad Team won First Place in State MathCounts today and will now advance to Nationals in Orlando, May 13 – 15, 2017.

And our wonderful high school students won First Place in State History Bowl (as a team) and advanced to Nationals where they will compete in Washington, DC, on April 21-23, 2017.

Earlier this month, our all-female Robotics Team, "Control + Alt + Delete" advanced to the International FLL Competition in the UK, June 21-25, and our Model United NationsTeam will be competing at the International United Nations Building in New York this May.

So far this year, a total of FIVE teams from our school have advanced to either national or international competitions and will represent the State of Georgia. We anticipate that some of our wonderful Destination Imagination teams also will advance to Global Finals after their competitions this weekend as well.

As you can imagine, this is simply amazing news for a school of our size! We are a small school with SUCH A BIG HEART! The stamina that our students, coaches, and families show on a weekly basis is such an inspiration to all who know them, especially to me. Way to go and good luck at nationals and internationals to all of our teams!

We are also incredibly excited to announce the addition of a brand new CurriculumEducation Coordinator, Kandice Ivarie, for our upcoming 2017-2018 school year. Mrs. Ivarie brings more than a decade of experience to FSAPS and we have no doubt she will help to support our school's long-term goal of being a top STEAM institution, not only in the US, but globally, as well!

We hope you will take time from your busy schedules to please read through our entire newsletter. So much is happening at FSAPS and we don't want you to miss a beat!

In response to your requests, new news is featured at the top, with the recurring news that is still relevant being included in the lower portion of the newsletter.

Here's to our incredible FSA family!

https://www.smore.com/xq8sb-fulton-science-academy

Proudly,

Kenan Sener

Principal

Fulton Science Academy AP Biology Dissection

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Fulton Science Academy Science Olympiad Team Goes to Nationals!

Fulton Science Academy Science Olympiad Team Goes to Nationals!

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