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Model UN Club Hosts Conference at Potomac
The Potomac Model United Nations club held a conference on campus this past weekend. Club leaders, led by head delegate Garrett Hicks '25, secretary general Alex Martin '25, and under-secretary general Karina Satoskar '25, worked all year to plan for this event, which included about 180 participants across two days. The theme of the conference was “The Technology Boom," focusing on the pressing issues that rapid technological advancement has created around the world. Model UN members served as the coordinators for each committee in various sessions. The conference was a success, and we were happy to host such intelligent, fun, and diplomatic students from peer schools around the region. We look forward to hosting the third iteration of PSMUNC next year!
Robotics Competes at Glen Allen High Stakes Tournament
This past weekend, seven of Potomac’s Upper School robotics teams competed at the High Stakes Tournament at Glen Allen High School. All seven teams — 12A Absolute Zero (Helena Backus ’28, Woodley Bohannon ’28, Marissa McEwen ’28, Jasper Majeed-Hall ’28), 12C Caffeine (Santi Cangahuala ’27, Nikhil Kothari ’27, Julian Mankovsky ’27, Brayden Nelson ’25, Trevor Nelson ’27, Cole Peterson ’27), 12D Dinomite (Tami Aje ’25, Tony Diller ’26, Aiden Kaminski ’26, Sam Kim ’27, Lauren Lovallo ’25, Deven Tuladhar ’26), 12E Error by Design (Zane Amr ‘28, Esther Choi ‘28, Farrah Gardner ‘28, Hank Kelly ‘28, Imani Nzekwe ‘28, Susie Taylor ‘28)), 12F Finneas and Ferb (Caeden Demory ‘27, Patrick Joseph ‘28, Alex Kim ‘28, Hadley Scribner ‘28, McKenzie Watt ‘28, Evan Yu ‘28), 12X EclipX (Matthew Bodi ’28, Michael McIntyre ’28, Robert Murtagh ’28, Alex Runde ’28), and 12Z Zap (Jacob Cordero ’28, Quentin Toner ’26, Sophia Vilela ’26, Alejandra Villafuerte ’26) — advanced to the elimination rounds, showcasing their skill and preparation.
In the quarterfinals, teams 12X EclipX and 12F Finneas & Ferb put up a strong fight but were ultimately eliminated after competitive matches. Meanwhile, 12A Absolute Zero and 12Z Zap formed an alliance and faced off against other Potomac teams, eliminating 12E Error by Design in the Round of 16 and 12D Dinomite in the quarterfinals. 12C Caffeine defeated the alliance of 12A and 12Z in the semifinals, advancing to the finals and ultimately becoming Tournament Champions.
Team 12C Caffeine also earned the Innovate Award, recognizing their effective and well-documented design process for a novel aspect of their robot or gameplay strategy. Team 12D Dinomite received the Design Award, which celebrates an organized and professional approach to the Engineering Design Process, project and time management, and team organization.
World Language Center LunchÂ
On Friday, January 24, the Language Center hosted a multicultural food exchange to celebrate and learn about new foods and cultures. Both students and faculty contributed food, including flan, tres leches cake, Spanish tortilla, pan amasado (a Chilean bread), pebre (a Chilean sauce made of parsley, onion, oil, and spices), alfajores (shortbread cookies with chocolate and caramel), palmiers, and red bean dumplings. Students enjoyed trying new foods and learning about their cultural significance.
Standing Ovation for Potomac Theatre
The award-winning Upper School Potomac Theatre attended and competed at The Virginia Thespian Festival at Capital One Arena in Tysons Corner earlier this month. They performed a stunning production of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible." For the second year in a row, Potomac Theatre was awarded the festival's top awards in Acting and Music and received the most awards of any competing independent school in the DMV. In addition to performing, theatre students also attended workshops where they participated in lighting design, choreography, script work and acting intensives. Congratulations to our incredible Potomac Theatre students for all of their hard work!
Congratulations to seniors Kate Choi, Anaahita Kaashyap, and Erim Ozcan, who were named Top 300 Scholars in the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2025! All three 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 Dr. Isabelle Cohen and others, they've spent the past two years researching their projects.
- Choi is recognized for her research on "Improving Racial Equity in Skin Cancer Detection: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence-Driven Synthetic Image Generation, Cascading Convolutional Neural Networks and Affordable Diagnostic Hardware for Accurate Cancer Screening Across All Skin Tones."
- Kaashyap is recognized for her research on “Development and Evaluation of HMPB-Cur-Pip Nanoparticles as a Novel, Cost-Effective, Anti-Inflammatory Therapy for Rheumatoid Arthritis.”
- Ozcan is recognized for his research on “Parametric Optimization and Discovery of a Low-Noise Toroidal Quadrotor Propeller With a Leading Blade Height Offset for Responsible Wildlife.”
Grade 9 Foundations Students Connect with Younger Students
On Monday, the first rotation of Foundations 9 came to an end. Ninth grade students in the Personal Agency and Community Responsibility Module made their way down to the Middle School for a cross-divisional social event with the entire fifth grade. In preparation for the meet-up, ninth graders considered what it means to be leaders in the Potomac community and how they can serve as role models to students in the younger divisions. Students were paired up and had a chance to connect over hot chocolate and marshmallows. It was a wonderful experience for all involved.
Starting in January, grade 9 will begin the second rotation of Foundations, engaging in a new round of interactive sessions and activities connected to our three Foundations modules: Personal Agency, Civil Discourse, and Ethics. Enjoy a gallery of photos.