Student Achievements

Heather Littlefield is featured in Press Democrat

A profile of Heather Littlefield appeared in the Teen Face section of the Press Democrat on October 14. You can read it at: http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20081014/LIFESTYLE/810140302

Students Win at Agilent Robotics Competition

Nicole Pope

SA engineering students represented very well in the 5th annual Agilent-MESA robotic competition.

After our students had to make a quick decision to continue to compete while our community was grieving a tragic loss, they had to immediately get in the robot zone. It was incredible that the first time an SA engineering class was offered and our students competed in the college division of the robotic challenge, we placed in the top 5. Liberty Moyer and William Jaeger took 1st place, Dylan Barth, PJ Lasseter and Joe Larsen placed 4th, and Nick Angell, Erin Mahoney and Rebecca Nadeau placed 5th. Cash prizes were awarded to the top 4 teams, gift cards were given to all the teams that beat the Agilent engineers, and all students received a backpack, memory stick, and more goodies. Our shining moment was in the Pit o’ Despair competition (where the robot attempts to cross the pit from one end to the other). SA robots were so fast that we broke records. Joe, Dylan, and PJ completed the pit in a little over 4 seconds. Nick, Erin and Rebecca had a personal best time in around 5.6 seconds. We took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in this competition. SA’s high school students beat the master robotic college teams and Agilent’s engineers in this competition.

You can read the Press Democrat article at http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080523/NEWS/352142616/1033/NEWS&title=Building_a_better_robot#

Students Win Art Awards in National Competition

Four SA students earned Gold Key Awards, or regional recognition, in The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, a national competition sponsored by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. Hannah Harb-Murley, Class of 2009, won in the category of digital imagery for “Racism in America.” Heather Littlefield, Class of 2010, earned an award in the category of design/graphics for “Ophelia.” Toby Newman, Class of 2008, won two awards in the category of digital imagery, for “Hand Head” and “Wire Tree.”

Grace Erny Wins Poetry Out Loud Competition

Ben Wallo and Grace Erny, backed by a large turnout of Sonoma Academy students, took Sonoma County by storm at the Poetry Out Loud competition held at CHOPs on Friday night. Grace won first place and Ben honorable mention. She will compete in Sacramento at the state competition on March 14. Ben gave two very dramatic presentations: the first a dazzling performance of Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade," followed by William Carlos Williams' "To Elsie," which he delivered with flourish and style. And then there was Grace, who delivered a riveting rendition of Sylvia Plath's "Fever 103." Everyone in CHOPs was spellbound for the entire two and a half minutes. Next, she performed T.S. Eliot's "Preludes," probably the longest and most difficult piece attempted by any of the contestants...

Community Youth Service Award Honorees

Afroz Baig received a Community Youth Service Award at the Press Democrat’s annual recognition ceremonies, which were held last night at the WFC. She won in the category of health science for her fundraising to support and AIDS nurse in Kenya. She was chosen from group of 18 other nomimees in it. Seniors Hallie Detrick and Jenni Robinson were both honored nominees; Hallie in the category of Vocational for her fundraising work to support the Kenya AIDs nurse and Jenni Robinson in the category of Community Action for her work with the Teen Court. SA has had students recognized in the Community Youth Service Awards every year since 2005.

SA athletes earn all-league honors

Athletic Department staff

Bianca Farrow and Sally Williams earn league MVP honors; 20 SA athletes recognized.

Girls Cross Country team captures league title

The girls cross country team won the first cross country league title by capturing the CMC south division on Wednesday at Mendocino College. Grace Hafner won the race, which featured runners from 13 schools that compete in the CMC. Freshman Sarah Tatum finished 4th for the Coyotes and Bonnie Campbell finished 6th. Savannah Turley finished 16th, but passed two runners down the stretch, and Katherine Parsells ran a strong race to secure the victory for SA.

According to Athletic Director Chris Ziemer, the team has worked extremely hard this season. “Although on occasion they have borrowed a few runners from girls soccer, the five girls who ran each week should be commended for their dedication and work ethic,” said Ziemer. “What we lack in depth, we make up for in quality and Sonoma Academy is very proud of the way the cross country teams represent our school. Obviously we graduate Grace, but with four talented underclassmen returning the future looks bright for the team and I expect them to be very competitive at the NCS meet next weekend,” said Ziemer. “Todd, Jessica and Katelyn have done a great job and we appreciate all of their work,” added Ziemer.

The boys team competed well, finishing in the top 5 overall, with Jonathan Izen placing 7th. They will be competing at the NCS meet in Hayward on Saturday, November 22nd.