International Students

This year marked the start of Oakwood High School's first International Club. With our ever growing international student population, the International Club provides an opportunity for students to celebrate their heritage and share their impressions of life in America. Activities were themed around an idiomatic expression, often the most nuanced part of languages and often the hardest aspect of communication in a foreign language. We love our international students and are so appreciative to all that they bring to our Oakwood Community.

Last Saturday, at the CCS Track and Field Semi-Finals Meet, Maryam Moghaddami was presented with the Elgie Bellagio Sportsmanship Award. The award is given to an MTAL athlete displaying exemplary sportsmanship. Elgie was a long time MTAL commissioner and the award is named in his honor.

This year, representatives from the Stevenson School Track & Field had the honor of awarding the Elgie Bellagio Sportsmanship Award. The team noted Maryam's constant positive support of her competitors, her appreciation of the fact that their efforts make her better, and her encouragement for them to improve. All of the athletes were happy and their pleasure is evident in their smiles. This was a successful end to the Track and Field season, indeed.

National Merit Scholarship Corporation has announced this year's National Merit Scholarship winners. Oakwood Senior Claire Murphy has been selected as a recipient for this prestigious award. Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding finalists in the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program. Congratulations, Claire!

Iris Indermitte, an Oakwood HS senior, was recently selected as one of only two Chapter W.J. Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O.) Star Scholarship winners from a large and competitive pool of applicants. P.E.O. is an international women's philanthropy organization that promotes women and their achievement. The P.E.O. Star Scholarship is for women who exhibit excellence in leadership, extracurricular activities, community service, and potential for future success. Iris has been invited to attend a reception this summer to receive her award. Congratulations, Iris!

After advancing to the State level at the Synopysys championship earlier this month, high school junior Ashwin Viswesvaran, eighth grader Danya B., and seventh grader Ayana W. competed at the 2018 California Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles. Ashwin was awarded 'Honorable Mention' under the Recognition Category for Mathematical Sciences. Danya was awarded 'Honorable Mention' for Environmental Engineering in the Junior Division and seventh grader Ayana W. won 2nd place for Plant Biology in the Junior Division. Congratulations to these gifted students who competed against nearly 1,000 participants from 397 schools throughout the State.

On April 21st, six high school students represented Oakwood at the highly competitive Code Quest programming competition at the Lockheed Martin facility in Sunnyvale. They competed against 46 other teams from all over the Bay Area and beyond. It was the final programming contest for Seniors Andrew Lyle, Khush Amin, and Ajay Singh. Sophomores Robert Walker, Nolan Kornelsen, and James Xu look forward to returning next year. In addition to coding, students had a chance to learn more about Lockheed Martin's Space program and interact with Sunny, their security robot.

Oakwood Middle School students who were enrolled in the Programming, Introduction to Robotics, and Intermediate Robotics elective classes this year had the unique opportunity to visit Intuitive Surgical, the manufacturer of the da Vinci Surgical robot, in Sunnyvale. Students were given a presentation on surgical robots, a chance to test drive the surgical robots, and a tour of the secure manufacturing facility. It was an exceptional learning opportunity and we thank Intuitive Surgical for hosting our students.