Mathematics

Katie Cronise of Fairplay has been named this year's Rensselaer Medal winner from St. Maria Goretti High School in Hagerstown. The Rensselaer Medal is awarded by more than 3,900 secondary schools throughout North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. It is given to students who have distinguished themselves in mathematics and science. To be honored with the medal, a student must be a member of the junior class and the high school's most promising science and mathematics student.

Ryan Shifler, son of Michael and Beth Shifler of Hagerstown, received the Most Promising Mathematician Award at the spring honors convocation at Salisbury University. The award is presented annually to mathematics majors who have a 3.0 grade-point average or better and who have been judged by a consensus of full-time faculty in the department to show the most promise in mathematics. Shifler is a senior majoring in mathematics.   He is a member of the cross country and track and field teams, Pi Mu Epsilon and Chi Alpha Sigma.

Hagerstown Community College hired seven new full-time faculty members for the fall semester. New faculty members include Mehdi Asgharifar, instructor, mechanical engineering technology; Richard Campbell, instructor, developmental mathematics; Mary Beth Chaney, instructor, early childhood education/reading; Lori Manilla, instructor, psychiatric and mental health nursing; Stacey McGee, instructor, business and accounting; Timothy McCollum, instructor,...

Officials at Hagerstown Community College recently announced that several faculty members received promotions. Joan Bontempo, instructor, art appreciation/art history, was promoted to assistant professor. Christopher Lewis, assistant professor, mathematics, was promoted to associate professor. James Niessner, instructor, developmental English, was promoted to assistant professor. Thomas Seward, assistant professor, foreign language, was promoted to associate professor.

GREENCASTLE, Pa. - The Greencastle-Antrim School District recently was selected as one of 50 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Explorer Schools (NES) in a national competitive process, according to a news release from the Greencastle-Antrim Foundation. Greencastle-Antrim will have a three-year partnership with NASA designed to bring NASA's mathematics, science and technology learning to educators, students, and families, the release said. While partnered with NASA, the Greencastle-Antrim NES team will acquire and use new teaching resources and technology tools for grades seven through nine using NASA's content, experts and other resources.

By CLYDE FORD Staff Writer, Charles Town CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - Jefferson County students who are currently sixth graders are going to have to complete algebra and geometry under new state requirements, a schools official said at Monday night's board meeting. Before, students had a choice about whether they would take algebra and other advanced mathematics, said Doug Perks, director of curriculum for the Jefferson County schools system. When the students are seventh graders, they will be in a pre-algebra class, replacing a general mathematics course, Perks said.

1 S. Clifton Drive Williamsport Principal: Jana Palmer Phone: 301-766-8415 Fax: 301-223-4142 Web site: None Start time: 8:30 a.m. Dismissal: 3 p.m. Grades: K-5 Date of construction: 1959 Age of building: 47 years Latest renovation: 2003 Size of building: 64,112 square feet State-rated capacity: 568 Projected 2006-07 enrollment: ...

Sometimes it's hard to impress upon our teenagers the importance of taking challenging courses. If your teens are anything like their peers, when money is "on the table," their interest usually perks up. Recent research studies show that high skills translate into high pay in the workplace. Taking challenging course work is an important way to invest in yourself. Researchers at ACT Inc. have found that the salary a student can expect is strongly related to skills. Occupations that have higher requirements for mathematics, locating information and reading skills pay higher entry-level salaries.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - Shepherd University's Department of Mathematics has established a Research Guild and is looking for students who are interested in participating in applied research. Laboratory space in Stutzman-Slonaker, which was formerly a biology lab, will be used as classroom space and lab for students to do applied research, according to Christopher Elmer, assistant professor of mathematics and engineering. "Robbie Auld, a founding student member of the guild, has been instrumental in providing the students' perspective on many of our ideas," Elmer said.

Shepherd University recently received a three-year award from the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission Division of Science and Research and the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research for $81,000, which was secured by Colleen Nolan, dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and professor of biology. The project targets increasing preparedness and the number of students pursuing graduate training in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines.

Brian Ansel and Kris Pearl thought they were going to spend Tuesday morning observing and helping another teacher work with her students at Bester Elementary School, but the pair was surprised when a group of people walked into the classroom with balloons. Schools Superintendent Clayton Wilcox and officials from the Washington County Public Schools Education Foundation then presented Ansel and Pearl with a large ceremonial check for $1,000. “I was amazed. I was astonished. I was overwhelmed.

Two Eastern Panhandle high school students earned the right Saturday to compete in a national mathematics competition in June. Robert Zollinger, a senior at Martinsburg (W.Va.) High School, and Jim Park, a junior at Jefferson High School in Shenandoah Junction, W.Va., placed among the top 15 students in grades 10 to 12 at the 39th annual West Virginia State Mathematics Field Day, held Saturday at West Virginia State University in Institute. Robert placed second in the state competition and will be making his second trek to the American Regions Mathematics League, or ARML, competition, set for June 1 at Penn State.

Martinsburg South Middle School teacher Jeremy Anne Knight's attempt to avoid taking up the family profession only led her back into the fold. “I came from a family of teachers, so I thought I was sure of the one thing I wasn't going to do,” said Knight, who was recently named the 2013 middle school Mathematics Teacher of the Year by the West Virginia Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Knight, 47, said she had to join the U.S. Army to figure out that teaching was in fact her professional calling in life after all. “I ran away from it,” said Knight, who grew up on Long Island, N.Y. At the University of Virginia, she was in the Army ROTC Cavalier Battalion and enlisted as an officer upon graduating with a degree in English.

The University System of Maryland at Hagerstown recently awarded scholarships to 19 students enrolled in programs offered there. The students were recognized by Scholarship Chairwoman Gaye McGovern in front of family, faculty, and corporate and community partners. The awards included 10 from the USMH Advisory Board Fund and nine from the Magnolia Foundation Scholarship Fund for the benefit of USMH. The Magnolia Fund includes two named awards each from the Washington County Board of Commissioners and Citi.

Math and science seem to run in the Matonak family blood — and Amy Matonak is no exception. Matonak, the daughter of Dan and Robbie Matonak of Hagerstown, recently graduated summa cum laude from Salisbury University with bachelor of science degrees in computer science and math. Matonak said her father is a structural engineer, her sister is a mechanical engineer, one brother majored in math and physics, and her other brother is a math teacher. Matanok, 22, received two academic awards in recognition for her academic achievements at Salisbury.

Kim Sutton created a makeshift classroom for her mathematics workshop this week, filling the Next Dimensions event hall with bouncing music and vibrant, laminated posters. Her students, more than 200 elementary teachers, laughed and sang along as they took notes. An elementary school teacher, Sutton has published 17 books, many of which are used in Washington County classrooms. She works with Creative Mathematics, a company that sells teaching resources and sponsors educational lectures.

Ryan Shifler, son of Michael and Beth Shifler of Hagerstown, received the Most Promising Mathematician Award at the spring honors convocation at Salisbury University. The award is presented annually to mathematics majors who have a 3.0 grade-point average or better and who have been judged by a consensus of full-time faculty in the department to show the most promise in mathematics. Shifler is a senior majoring in mathematics.   He is a member of the cross country and track and field teams, Pi Mu Epsilon and Chi Alpha Sigma.

Taking experiences learned in the field and bringing them into her sixth-grade classroom led Michele Adams to be named one of America's top science teachers. Adams, who has been teaching science in Berkeley County for 20 years, the last seven at Spring Mills Middle School, was named by President Obama as one of 85 math and science teachers in the country — and the first from Berkeley County — to receive the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

Shepherd University recently received a three-year award from the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission Division of Science and Research and the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research for $81,000, which was secured by Colleen Nolan, dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and professor of biology. The project targets increasing preparedness and the number of students pursuing graduate training in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines.

Seldom does one encounter such lavish praise offered to a human being as that given to Isaac (later, Sir Isaac) Newton.  His accomplishments in natural philosophy — as science was then called — fully justify these generous gifts of praise. The renowned British poet Alexander Pope is hardly to be matched in his recognition of the intellectual power of this student of the universe. “Nature and Nature’s laws lay hid in night, “God said Let Newton be!