Friday, March 26th, 2021—Lace up those sneakers and grab a jar of Vegemite, as we get ready to share Syracuse Academy of Science high school’s next Teacher Spotlight. We had the opportunity to virtually interview, high school physical education and health teacher, Mrs. Clark. She shared with us a fun fact that would take us to the land down under, advice she gives to Atoms, as well as, her favorite book of all time, and much more. Read our interview below with high school physical education and health teacher, Mrs. Clark.

Interview with Mrs. Clark

• What three traits define you? Caring, Hard working, Persistent.
• What is your greatest accomplishment? It is still a work in progress, but raising my son and daughter to be smart, loving and caring individuals.
• Best book you have ever read? I'm going back to 10th grade English: To Kill a Mockingbird.
• What is one thing you cannot resist?(food/dessert/candy/etc.) Raisinets and Cheesecake!!
• If you could have dinner with one person living or dead who would they be and why? Gwen Stefani. She has been my idol ever since I was a kid. She is unique, strong, has incredible stage presence and just seems like a very chill person to talk to.
• What advice would you give to kids who are struggling at school? Keep your head up. We are all struggling but we need to be there for each other. And reach out if you are having a hard time. We are here to listen and help you get through this challenging time. 
• Tell us, what is something that might surprise us about you? I lived in Australia for 4 months. When living in Australia, I skydived, swam in the Great Barrier Reef and went to the island where the movie "Castaway" was filmed. I also did a cross country trip across the States for 6 weeks and hiked over 100 miles on my journey.

Sunday, March 21st, 2021—This past weekend, Syracuse Academy of Science high school Atoms Yakina Sika-Amoah and Theodore Simon took home more than the gold medal and highest honors at the MOST's CNY Science and Engineering Fair, held on Sunday March 21^st.

Yakina and Theodore worked to research and develop a robot that would help clean up the coastlines. They entered the robot into the virtual CNY Science and Engineering Fair and won the following awards.

• The High Honor Medallion
• IEEE Electrical Computer Engineering Award
• Ricoh Sustainable Development Award
• US Agency for International Development Award
• Stockholm Jr. Water Prize
• Terra Science and Education Award

Not to mention, Yakina and Theodore also secured a spot and sponsorship to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in 2021!

Congratulations to Yakina and Theodore, we are all so incredibly proud of you and all your accomplishments this weekend. We look forward to you both representing not only Syracuse Academy of Science High School but the Upstate New York community at the Regneron ISEF!

Monday, March 15th, 2021—The project based learning students at Syracuse Academy of Science middle school celebrate math’s favorite holiday, Pi Day, with exciting games, activities and of course prizes. Students work together to solve Pi Day puzzles in an ‘escape the room’ activity, answer Pi Day trivia questions and of course Pi Day musical chairs, where you guessed it the winning prize was a pie. No matter how you slice it, this was a fun way to celebrate Pi Day.

Friday, March 5th, 2021—Earlier this month Syracuse Academy of Science elementary school students participated in the program, D.E.A.R., which stands for Drop Everything And Read. This fun initiative invites and encourages students to sit quietly and read a book of their choosing. It also helps instill the love of reading, while working on continuing to grow and develop reading skills. Click here to visit our Facebook page to view more pictures of Atoms participating in D.E.A.R. Keep up the great work, Atoms!