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2011 Winner:
Celinda Davis
College Corner Blog
Celinda was nominated by Lisa Micele, Uni Director of College Counselling & Supervisor of the PCC program:
Celinda Davis serves as a Peer College Counselor (PCC) at Uni High. She brainstormed / initiated our first-ever "College Corner Blog". As the creator, she was the main "blogger" -- sharing her personal insights and experiences about her college search and application process. Soon, she recruited other PCCs to share their experiences.... and it has now taken on a life of its own. The thoughtful reflections posted and fun / creative way to discuss difficult topics has been appreciated by students, parents, and faculty alike. Last semester, when Celinda did not receive a very competitive national scholarship, she eloquently wrote a blog on "Rejection" which was shared with the entire Uni community.
The particular blog, however, that deserves SPECIAL attention (in regard to the Wylde Q. Chicken award) was her December / holiday blog. This was extremely creative, fun, and a complete surprise even to me! -- the supervisor of the PCCs and the "Lisa" mentioned throughout her fun entry.
Celinda brings energy, fun and enthusiasm to the stressful college selection and application process. She also brings a dose of reality -- helping to reinforce my consistent message that "College is a match to be made -- not a prize to be won!" Her honest and deeply revealing posts have started a new tradition at Uni High! Our Student Services Office peer education program (PCCs) and website will continue her efforts! We have juniors asking "How can I become a PCC and continue writing for the College Corner Blog?" Celinda has made a LASTING impact!!! Thank you for considering Celinda Davis for this award. Her approach to life and learning has been all about "coloring outside the lines." She is a great candidate for your consideration.
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Celinda Davis with Scott Wyatt from the Class of ’72 |
Selected posts from Celinda’s College Corner Blog
2011 Winners:
Kedar Vaidya, David Bergvelt, & Megan James
Uni High Altitude Photography
Megan James, David Bergvelt, and Kedar Vaidya
Megan James submitted this nomination for her team:
For our Computer Literacy II project this year, we launched a weather balloon carrying a package containing a camera on a timer and a cell phone for GPS tracking. This is a bit unusual, considering that that project only requires that you create something along the lines of a stop-motion video, or maybe a website for a local company. Instead, not only did we launch a weather balloon, but we also created a website once we were finished to contain what pictures we collected along with telling people about the process.
We decided, in the beginning, that we wanted to do something including both flying and space, and we knew that it was going to be a challenge to not only go through with the project itself, but also get it approved. The teachers, Greg Smith, Joel Beesley, Frances Harris and John Garvey, told us that as long as we were willing to pay for the supplies and put in the work required, then we could go through with it.
We prepared for three weeks, got our materials together, found a launch site, and then launched on Saturday, October 10, 2010. After launching from a remote location (that was a safe distance from the airport) we followed the balloon's flight path for over four hours, then had to follow it into an unharvested cornfield in Indiana to retrieve it. The pictures were beautiful, successful, and showed the curve of the earth in their frame. The flight went as planned, and as for the next portion of the ten weeks, we created our website to make our pictures and documentation of the process open to the public.
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