Northside science students receive international acclaim
NISD Communications Department
October 19, 2007
Northside ISD knows all about the science of success. Four of the five students from San Antonio who were awarded prizes this past spring at the 2007 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair are from Northside.
Earlier this month, Mustafa Iqbal from Jay Science and Engineering Academy,
Nayana Ghosh-Choudhury from Health Careers High School, and Ian Panchevre and Stephen Odanovich from Clark High School were featured in the San Antonio Express-News.
"We've always honored our science students here at Northside, but it's very gratifying to see they're getting national and international recognition," said Alice Fiedler, Northside's secondary science instructional specialist.
With so much attention on No Child Left Behind and accountability ratings, the news usually is about students reaching minimum standards, Fiedler said.
"Sometimes we lose sight of these exceptional students that we need to encourage as well," she said. "These are the students that are potential Nobel laureates."
Ghosh-Choudhury, a junior at Health Careers, is researching whether drugs used to reduce cholesterol can prevent breast tumor growth. Iqbal, a senior at Jay Science & Engineering, found that severed nerves on worms healed faster if treated with an electrical current. And Panchevre and Odanovich, seniors at Clark, have spent two years studying the sociology and biology of what attracts boys to girls and vice versa.
Northside has had a presence at international and national science fairs for years, Fiedler said. This year, Zachry Middle School represented Northside at the National Middle School Science Bowl in Denver, and six Northside students qualified for the American Junior Academy of Science, being held in Boston this February.
"NISD has always put a big emphasis on science instruction and experiences pre-kindergarten through high school, and because of that Northside has been considered a ‘power-house' when it comes to science education," Fiedler added.
Credit for Northside's success goes to the many science teachers who encourage participation in science fairs and spend many long hours working with students, Fiedler said. In addition, Northside has partnerships with the local colleges and universities including the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, which offers students a summer research program.
"The UT Health Science Center program gives students mentorship by research doctors and experience using state-of-the-art equipment, and it has given them access to the world in research," Fiedler said.
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