Potomac Stories

The Entrepreneur and Innovation class concluded its semester-long product-innovation program with 30-minute presentations made by 12 student groups to a panel of "Sharks." Each group comprised four students and was charged with the entire product development process, from idea generation and the development of a working prototype to the creation of sensible marketing strategies and a financial plan. Products developed included:

• A pen that includes a fidget device and aroma therapy, designed for those who could use some calming during a test or big meeting.
• A water bottle that has a detachable power charging station on the bottom.
• A silent alarm in your pillow that wakes you gently via haptics programmed through an app.
• A bottle that has four compartments, each for a different flavor of sauces that they developed.
• A pill container that magnetically attaches to a cell phone so that pills are readily available. 

Each Shark panel included alumni with careers in business and/or engaged in product development, as well as at least one Potomac School administrator. The Entrepreneur and Innovation course is taught by three Potomac faculty members: Sean Moran, Ryan Levesque, and Harry Strong.  

Congratulations to seniors Tara Bansal and Aliyah Majeed-Hall, who were named Top 300 Scholars in the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2026! Both are students in Potomac's Science and Engineering Research Center (SERC) program. This contest is the nation's oldest and most prestigious science/math competition for high school seniors. Under the mentorship of our science faculty and others, they've spent the past two years researching their projects.

- Aliyah is recognized for her research on "TRACE-Stem: A 222Rn-Calibrated Mechanistic Model of Methane (CH4) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Transport in Tree Stems.”

- Tara is recognized for her research on "A Novel Pneumatic Silicone Sleeve for Transhumeral Prostheses That Autonomously Regulates and Adjusts to Socket–Limb Pressure To Improve Amputee Comfort.” Read more.  

On Thursday, Potomac faculty from the history and world language departments, along with current senior Elizabeth Ahn, shared expertise with students and faculty to help us better understand recent events in Venezuela. Topics included international and domestic law, just war theory, background on the Maduro regime (where Elizabeth shared information from her Global Perspectives and Citizenship project), a timeline of recent events, and the historical context of U.S. intervention in Latin America. The conversation continued after the bell and in the hallways; we are looking at a potential follow-up conversation in the coming days.  

This week in eighth grade history, students stepped into the role of 1920s advertising teams, working to sell new inventions in a decade marked by booming business, emerging technologies, and a rapidly growing consumer culture. Their challenge was to convince wealthy investors to fund a new consumer product—something everyday Americans would want, need, and buy because of a persuasive advertising campaign.

Working in partners and small groups, students developed pitches for 1920s inventions such as the television, frozen food, and the electric washing machine. Then they presented their ideas to a panel of “sharks,” who decided whether to invest. 

Guests enjoyed visiting our annual Invention Convention last Friday, where they learned about the unique creations dreamed up by our grade 5 students, including “The Bun Fun Enrichment Pit,” “Hot Hand,” “The Pac-Man Pop It,” and many more. While displaying their inventions, students described the process of developing their prototypes and shared their cost analysis and marketing ideas. Congratulations to all of our young inventors. Check out the photos!

This past weekend, six Potomac School teams – 12A Absolute Zero, 12B Blizzard, 12C Caffeine, 12S Syndicate, 12X EclipX, and 12Z Zap – competed at the Sugar Rush VEX V5 Robotics Competition Signature Event, a large two-day tournament in Hershey, PA that brought together 120 of the most competitive teams from 13 states and Canada.

Three Potomac teams advanced to the elimination rounds. 12B Blizzard (Rose Barabanov ‘27, Nik Bhargava ‘26, Matthew Gardner ‘26, Kate Myslewicz ‘27, Sophia Sultan ‘27, Aden Travers ‘27) finished 22nd in the qualification matches and was eliminated in the Round of 16. 12C Caffeine (Santi Cangahuala ’27, Nikhil Kothari ’27, Julian Mankovsky ’27, Trevor Nelson ’27, Cole Peterson ’27) placed 10th after qualifications and advanced to the quarterfinals, where they were eliminated by the alliance that ultimately won the event. 12Z Zap (Tony Diller ’26, Aiden Kaminski ’26, Sam Kim ’27, Deven Tuladhar ’26, Quentin Toner ’26, Sophia Vilela ’26, Alejandra Villafuerte ’26) had Potomac’s deepest run, finishing 4th in the qualification matches and advancing to the division semifinals. 

The event provided valuable high-level competition for all six teams and highlighted strong performances from multiple Potomac squads in a field of highly competitive teams. Well done to all competitors!