Prize Goes To Churchville Student For View Of Schools On Other Planets

Sixth grader Valerie Malizzia won a creative-writing competition with images of electronic pencils that read minds and talking computers that answer questions in class.

The contest, initiated in November by Smart Technologies in Canada, was open to third through ninth graders in North America. Malizzia, a student at Churchville Elementary School, won a Smart board, estimated at $3,000, for her school. A sixth-grade classmate, Jessica Sussin, won a certificate of commendation for second place for her vision of time machines and robotic teachers. Their entries were submitted by language-arts teacher Litsa Sfarnas.

The contest, which attracted 200 entries, challenged students to use their imaginations to describe school life on other planets. The first-place finishers at each grade level were eligible for a drawing to win the Smart board, an electronic touch-sensitive whiteboard connected to a computer and projector.

Smart Technologies will repeat the creative-writing contest two more times this school year, with deadlines of March 31 and June 30. Contest rules are available at www.smarttech.com/competition.

FYI

Several students from Bucks and Montgomery Counties advanced to the state Mathcounts competition after their strong showing this month at a regional contest. Four individual winners and one team from each county will compete at the state finals March 24 in Harrisburg.

The regional winner from Bucks County was U.J. Lee, a student at Newtown Junior High School. The other Bucks students who advanced to the state competition after taking written and oral tests were Jonathan Ziegler, Palisades Middle School in Nockamixon Township, second place; Jesse Vavrek, Pennridge Central Middle School in Silverdale, third; and Jeffrey Malone, St. John the Evangelist in Lower Makefield, fourth. The winning team was from Palisades Middle School. The team members were Ziegler, Raymond Carozza, Andy Fleischman and Nate Thomas.

The individual winners from Montgomery County were Adam Bildersee, Bala Cynwyd Middle School, first place; John Edwards, Montco Home-school, second; Kurt Schneider, Wissahickon Middle School in Ambler, third; and Justin Komisarof, Shipley School in Lower Merion, fourth. The winning school was Bala Cynwyd Middle School, with team members Bildersee, Steven Hershman, Dan Cooperman and Kefei Zhou advancing to the state finals.