January and February Accolades

We are sharing Student Accolades from:

Quizbowl International Academic Competitions (IAC) >> 

Chess >> 

Scholastic Art Awards >> 

Debate >>

Climbing Championships >>

Quizbowl/ International Academic Competitions (IAC) 

Twenty-nine GDS students in 3rd-11th grades participated in the International Academic Competitions (IAC) Washington DC January Regionals in January. It was the fourth Quizbowl tournament GDS hosted this year, and the tournament included History Bees, Science Bees, and Geography Bees. Roughly 125 students from across the DMV, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Delaware attended. Most of the following students qualified for nationals and internationals.

History Bee Results:

4th grade division
Avi ’33 - 2nd place
Sanjay ’33 - 3rd place
Josh ’33 - finalist 
Logan ’33 – finalist

5th grade division
Hugo Gonen ’32 - finalist 
Oskar Gonzalez-Liu ’32 - finalist 
Jackson Lopez ’32 - finalist 

6th grade division
Paul Bloch-Prime ’31- 3rd place

7th grade division
Jake Teitelbaum ’30
Nate Feldman ’30 

8th grade division
Claire Saunders ’29 - 2nd place 

9th/10th grade division
Haughton Neppl ’27 - 1st place

Science Bee Results:

4th grade division 
Logan ’33 - 1st place
Elliot ’33 -  2nd place
Sanjay ’33 - 3rd place  

5th grade division
Oskar Gonzalez-Liu '32 – finalist
Cian Shangguan '32 – finalist
Hugo Gonen ‘32 - finalist

6th grade division
Caleb Simon-Ratner '31 - 2nd place
Paul Bloch-Prime ’31 - finalist

8th grade division
Claire Saunders ’29 - 1st place 
Eesha Parekh '29 - 2nd place 

9th/10th grade division
Haughton Neppl ’27 - 1st place

Geography Bee Results:

4th grade division
Avi ’33 - 1st place      
Sanjay ’33 - finalist   
Logan ’33 - finalist  
Elliot ’33 - finalist  

5th grade division
Jackson Lopez ’32 – finalist
Nora Hanlon '32  - finalist

9th/10th grade division   
Haughton Neppl ’27 -2nd place    

11th/12th grade division
Nick Von Hindenburg '26 - 1st place 

A big congratulations to all of our students, and a special thanks to Sue Ikenberry and Abigail Lund, who volunteered their time, to Lomahn Sun '26, who assisted in running the tournament, and to all the GDS parents who donated concessions and volunteered. 

— Reported by GDS Substitute Teacher and Elementary & Middle School Quizbowl Coach, Randy Sargent Neppl

Chess - Ward 3 Scholastic Chess Challenge 

Congratulations to Jamie '33, Elliot '33, Sanjay '33, Logan '33 and Blake '36 who represented GDS and won the top team trophy in the Kindergarten-5th grade section. Logan won 1st place in the section, and Jamie won the top female trophy for the section. Every student played four rounds and won games that contributed to the team win! https://caissachess.net/online-registration/preregistration-list/5793

Scholastic Art Awards

The Scholastic Art Awards is the nation’s oldest competition that recognizes talented young artists and writers from across the country. The following 21 GDS high school students received recognition for their artistic works this year. Congratulations to all!                                                                                   

Noah Baer '28: Honorable Mention, Photography    
Nadia Bandy '27: 2 Gold Keys and 1 Silver Key, Painting
Liam Black '28: Silver Key, Photography
Tristan Fulton '26: Silver Key and Honorable mention, Painting
Julia Heinzelman '28: Honorable Mention, Photography
Nina Heyliger '27: Honorable Mention, Ceramics and Glass
Kai von Hindenburg '28: Honorable Mention, Photography
Sabine Hletko Wood '26: Silver Key, Photography
Sophia Ingersoll '28: Honorable Mention, Drawing and Illustration 
Marc Liebowitz '26: Honorable Mention, Photography
Sophie Lim '27: Silver Key, Ceramics and Glass
Rowan Magnell '27: Silver Key, Painting
Zoya Mghenyi '26: Silver Key, Drawing and Illustration
Jaya Newingham '25: Silver Key and Honorable Mention, Ceramics and Glass
Noah Petty '27: Honorable Mention, Photography
Nate Saelinger '28: Honorable Mention, Ceramics and Glass
Rhys Seiden Malone '28: Silver Key, Photography
Nikki Smallwood '28: Gold Key, Ceramics and Glass
Saraswat Swamy '25: Silver Key, Ceramics and Glass
Nathan Tureck '27: Honorable Mention, Photography
Julian Turim '26: Gold Key, Mixed Media

Debate

In the Boston Debate League tournament in February, GDS students Elspeth Patten ’28 and Avery Fragle ’28 debuted in Junior Varsity and reached the octofinals round. Ananth Mangalam ’27 and Joseph Xu ’27, as well as Emma Renigar ’26 and Sam Wood ’26, reached the double-octofinals in the Varsity division, and Freshman-Sophomore pair Susie Gerety ’28 and Rhea Ganta ’27 had a 4-2 record and were just a few seeds from qualifying for the double octofinals! Please congratulate them all!

Climbing Championships

In early February, twelve GDS students competed in the Washington Area Independent School Climbing League Championships. Please congratulate Theo Perl '26 and Oliver Perl '26 who tied for 6th place in the men's division, Rowan Magnell '27 who placed 8th, and Sid Debgupta '26 who tied for 10th in the women's division. Our men's team placed 4th out of 9 teams, and the women's team placed 6th out of 10 teams!