Tue, Nov 10 2009
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Published May 27, 2009 04:24 pm - Grand River Academy’s venerable academic achievements have left the campus proud and buzzing with energy. GRA students win first place in Web site contest Grand River with TREY JONES AUSTINBURG — Grand River Academy’s venerable academic achievements have left the campus proud and buzzing with energy. Between a computer technology competition and a botany-related endeavor, the students have had a lot of preparation and subsequent celebrating to tackle. Not a boastful bunch, students have been high energy glowing with the zeal to congratulate one another. Pointing to plants around the verdant campus the occasional computer joke is also shouted from one student to another.
The latest academic competition saw GRA finish in first place in the Northeast Ohio CoolTech Challenge. In its second year, the contest doubled in size. More than 60 teams entered their Web sites in the program sponsored by Northeast Ohio Software Association. The GRA Advanced Web Design Team finished ahead of all other competitors and netted scholarship money for the three team members, seniors Lucas Liu and Shwan Yawer and sophomore Steven Hardy. Reigning GRA Teacher of the Year, John Balash, was impressed with the team effort that went into the winning entry. He praised the commitment of the team as they put together a project that involved writing code, graphic design and text copy. The three team members received $750 each in scholarship money, as well as $150 each in gift cards from Best buy, Starbucks and Chipotle Restaurant. To view the winning website, go to www.grandriver.org/cooltech The Botany Challenge was held the last week of week of April. Six GRA students and adviser Katie Studer trained for a month to take part in a wildlife identification program promoted by Barrie Bottorf, Mary Howe and Bruce Loomis, area residents who have a deep interest in the preservation of local flora. The defending champions, GRA again finished in the medals by placing third out of nine teams. Team captain is Trey Jones. Teams had exactly two hours to locate and identify 34 marked plants that surrounded the Western Reserve Trail. Along with team members Andrew Steiner, Matt Jarkewicz, Cory Cahill, Mike Alfaro and Alex King, the group correctly identified 26 out of 32 native plant species. “It was intense,” said junior Andrew Steiner. “With the time limit and the pressure involved, it felt like an athletic competition.” “This might have been my most talented team ever, but the competition got better as well,” Mrs. Studer said. “We were happy with our finish and look forward to regaining our title next year.” In the Ashtabula County Math Competition, the Grand River Academy team was led by senior Lucas Liu and juniors Burd Lin and Robbie O’Guinn, who placed first, third and fifth respectively. At the end of the day, eight GRA students placed in the top 20, and the first-place trophy was sent to the GRA campus to be held and displayed for a year. Math teachers Alicia Field and Bill Thomas were team advisers. 
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