Potomac Stories

Our Chinese 2 students, currently studying the shopping unit, took their learning beyond the classroom with a field trip to 99 Ranch in Fairfax City. Through a scavenger hunt, they practiced essential Chinese phrases like asking for prices and recognizing discounts while exploring the unique differences between Asian and American grocery stores—especially in the seafood, produce, and snack sections.

To further enhance their language skills, students ordered food in Chinese at the food court and enjoyed a well-earned treat—milk tea for dessert! This hands-on experience allowed them to engage with real-world language and cultural diversity, making their learning truly come to life. 

On Tuesday, the Hispanic Student Alliance brought Langstaff Auditorium to life with their annual assembly. Presentations focused on the food, language, pop culture, and traditions across Latin America. The assembly culminated in a live telenovela, staged by members of the Hispanic Student Alliance and some enthusiastic audience volunteers. After the assembly, to celebrate their accomplishment, members of the affinity group enjoyed a catered lunch from a local Latin American restaurant. We are thankful for the HSA's efforts to share a rich culture with our community! 

Last Wednesday, ninth graders in the Personal Agency Module of Foundations 9 traveled to the Lower School to meet with the entire third grade. Each student paired up to help the third graders brainstorm ideas for the "leadership letters" they will soon write to second graders. As the leaders of the Lower School, the third graders have great wisdom to share! Outside of discussing the importance of leadership, the cross-divisional time together was an excellent moment of connection, belonging, and bonding between our oldest and youngest students. See photos from this cross-divisional gathering. Enjoy photos!

The juniors and seniors in the Global Perspectives and Citizenship Program (GPAC) traveled to the US Institute of Peace on Tuesday afternoon to learn about the historical foundations of the foundation as well as its broader directives. The students were able to share their individual research with the speakers as well as engage in a Q&A session to better understand how the institute – which provides expertise, training, and resources to individuals and organizations committed to peacebuilding – develops and implements peacebuilding programs that focus on advancing national security interests while promoting sustainable peace and stability in regions of conflict. As young research scholars, it was most exciting to see how research influences programming as well as U.S. policy. 

Last Saturday, six SERC students attended the regional Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) Competition, which took place at Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C. All were selected for the poster presentations (Noah Altschuler ‘25, Meera Desai ‘25, Ava Moazezz ‘25, Jessica Raman ‘25, Erim Ozcan ‘25, and Aliyah Majeed-Hall ‘26)  and three within the group also had oral presentations (Ozcan, Raman, and Majeed-Hall). Erim and Jessica took first and second place, respectively, in the oral presentations. They both move on to the National JSHS competition to represent the DMV area. The two students also received a scholarship of $2,000 (first place) and $1,500 (second place). The National JSHS will take place at the end of April. Congratulations to all the students who participated. 

This past weekend, eight of Potomac’s Upper School robotics teams —12A Absolute Zero, 12B Blizzard, 12C Caffeine, 12D Dinomite, 12F Finneas and Ferb, 12X EclipX, 12Y Yuun, and 12Z Zap—competed at Glen Allen High School, delivering an almost repeat performance of their last event. Nearly all teams advanced to the elimination rounds, demonstrating their continued strength in competition.

In the playoffs, 12A Absolute Zero (Helena Backus ’28, Woodley Bohannon ’28, Marissa McEwen ’28, Jasper Majeed-Hall ’28) fought their way to the semifinals before being eliminated by 12C Caffeine (Santi Cangahuala ’27, Nikhil Kothari ’27, Julian Mankovsky ’27, Brayden Nelson ’25, Trevor Nelson ’27, Cole Peterson ’27), who went on to win the tournament and claim the Innovate Award for their well-documented and creative approach to robot design and gameplay strategy. 12D Dinomite (Tami Aje ’25, Tony Diller ’26, Aiden Kaminski ’26, Sam Kim ’27, Lauren Lovallo ’25, Deven Tuladhar ’26) once again earned the Design Award, recognizing their professional and structured approach to engineering, team organization, and project management.

This event was another strong showing for Potomac’s teams, reaffirming their ability to compete at the highest level as they continue to refine their designs and strategies for future tournaments.
Potomac Robotics is on the road again this Sunday for our final qualification tournament in Dumfries, VA.