In spring 2016, over 150 Kinkaid Middle and Upper School students participated in the annual World Language Contests. The contests included competitions utilitzing French,Spanish and Latin at multiple levels. Thank you to the sponsors of the event including The American Association of Teachers of French (AATF), The American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) and The American Classical League (ACL).

Listed below are the student who placed in each category. Congratulations!

The Kinkaid debate team found great success last weekend at the Cypress Lakes High School tournament. Among the 43 schools in attendance, senior Vivian Liu and junior Jiva Ghei placed first and second respectively in the finals of Lincoln-Douglas (LD). Sophomore Jack Scofield also placed in the top 32 in LD. Lastly, Kinkaid's first year team of Karm Ghei and Sahar Punjwani placed in the quarterfinals (top 8) in the varsity policy debate.

Congratulations to these students on a great weekend and good luck moving forward!

It's been a busy month around campus! 
Please click on the video below to view Dr. Martire's October message. 

Nine Kinkaid 5th graders earned medals after competing in a national Halloween mathematics challenge hosted by Mangahigh.com. Competing against 845 schools and 43,000 students throughout the United States and Canada, Kinkaid placed 8th overall after correctly answering over 1,500 math questions throughout an eight-day period. In addition to receiving medals, the class also earned a $250 Amazon gift card. 

Mangahigh.com is one of the world’s first games-based-learning sites, where students learn Mathematics via purpose-built casual games that balance fun and learning. Founded by an experienced team of mathematicians and game specialists, the organization strives to balance game play and education.

Huge congratulations to these talented students! 

Pictured: Onyi Ndee, Camille Pyne, Travis Ainsworth, Peyton Young, Eric Wang, Ethan Goldstein, Hayden Lewitton, Georgia Cooper, Siddharth Agarwala

Kinkaid Debate is finished with a busy fall semester, and it has been a successful one. See below for an update on their many accomplishments! 

November 11-12, Katy Taylor HS Regional Tournament – 49 schools competing: 

• Seniors Sam Richey and Sabrina Bajwa - placed 1st in Policy, receiving 8 of the 12 needed points needed to qualify for TFA (Texas Forensics Association) State Tournament.
• The frosh team of Karm Ghei '20 and Spencer Powers '20 - placed in the semifinals, receiving 10 of the 12 points needed to qualify for TFA State.
• Kinkaid had two more first year teams in the quarterfinals - Hannah Shi '19 & Sahar Punjwani '20 and Camila Vicens '20 & Brian Xu '20.
  

November 19-21 - Glenbrooks Tournament – Chicago – one of the largest & most competitive tournaments in the country with 261 schools competing:

• Sam Richey & Sabrina Bajwa - placed in the top 16 (out of 170 teams) and received their 4th bid to the Tournament of Champions (TOC), sponsored by the University of Kentucky. Sam was awarded the 5th overall speaker & Sabrina the 11th out of 340. Both were invited to attend the Glenbrooks Round Robin following the regular tournament. This is an honor reserved for, what the Glenbrooks believe, are the top 7 teams in the country.
• Senior Jason Yang - placed in the top 32 (out of 180) in Lincoln-Douglas, won his first 6 debates, ending up 6-1, and was awarded the 19th overall speaker award.

November 19-21 – Cypress Creek HS Regional Tournament - 39 schools competing:

• Freshman Shreya Mehta - placed 3rd (semifinals, out of 50+ students) and received points towards qualifying for the TFA State Tournament.

December 2-3 - University Of Texas’ Longhorn Classic – largest tournament in Texas with 113 schools competing:

• Senior Jason Yang - placed 2nd out of 203 competitors in Varsity Lincoln-Douglas (VLD), falling to the top debater from Strake Jesuit in the finals. UT is a TOC qualifier at the semi-final level for LD, and Jason will now be one of the top 72 in the country competing at the University of Kentucky in April.
• Sam Richey and Sabrina Bajwa - placed in the quarterfinals (top 8 out of over 100 teams) in Varsity Policy. Sam was awarded the 3rd overall speaker, out of 200, and Sabrina was awarded the 10th. UT is a TOC qualifier at the quarterfinals level for VP. Sam and Sabrina are one of only 10 teams in the country to have four bids, and they have also qualified for the TFA State Tournament.
• Juniors Minhhy Truong and Lauren Ho - placed in the top 64 out of 140 teams in Varsity Public Forum. Lauren was awarded the 16th speaker award out of 280.
• Sophomores Dani Knobloch and Amy Ho - placed in the top 32 of Policy. 
• Sophomore Jack Scofield was awarded the 11th overall speaker (out of 203 competitors) in VLD.
• We had many successes culminating in the 2nd place overall debate sweepstakes award.  

Congratulations to Kinkaid Debate for a very impressive fall semester of performances! Good luck at the TFA State Tournament and Tournament of Champions!

During the weekend of February 9-12, Kinkaid took twenty-two students to Baltimore for the Johns Hopkins University 20th Annual Model UN Conference. Over 1500 students from all over the country (and three international schools, as well) competed this year. Kinkaid's team did very well, and two of our students won awards.

Anvi Nandish '17 won the Outstanding Delegate Award for playing the part of Sommai Phasee in the Government of Thailand 2014 Committee, and Camila Vicens '20 won the Honorable Mention Award for playing the part of our very own Bob McNair in the NFL Owners Meeting Committee.  Congratulations to Anvi and Camila!

Anvi Nandish '17

Camila Vicens '20

Kinkaid's upper school FTC and VEX Robotics teams recently finished their seasons. 

The FTC Robotics Team, Talon Industries, finished its season Saturday, February 18, at the FIRST First Technical Challenge (FTC) Southeast Texas Regional Championships at San Jacinto College in Pasadena, Texas.  After a thorough presentation to a panel of judges about its team's history, goals and engineering process and a string of qualifying match victories using a new and innovative defensive maneuver, Talon Industries pushed its way into the elimination round ranked 11 out of 36 teams.  Team Talon Industries continued use of its new strategy with success in both of two close and hotly contested semi-final elimination matches to advance to the finals.  Although the team did not record a win in the finals, Coach Vinnie Vrotny said, "The team displayed grit, creativity and perseverance throughout the tournament and season".

FTC Team Talon Industries: Christian Gipson '19, Sasha Busa '20, Joseph Wagnon '19, Julian Meyers '19, Andres Melendez '18, Christos Papandreou '18, Jamie Moseley '18, Nikita Munsif '20, Jeni Rojas '20

The VEX Robotics Team, 1221K, finished its season Saturday, February 25, at the South Texas Regionals in Aldine, Texas.  The highlights for the season included a 2nd place finish at their penultimate tourney after upsetting the 2nd and 3rd seed alliances. Coach Harlan Howe reports, "Team 1221K continued to learn and improve over the course of the year. They have been working since last April, including over the summer. Every tournament, they've shown significant improvement." 

VEX Team 1221K:  Pictured, Kenneth Lam '19, Isabel Gardner '18, Chris Choi '17 (Captain), Jamie Moseley '18, Seb Seager '19.  Not pictured, Zubair Mukhi '17

Congratulations to both teams on a great season!

Over the summer, Middle School Science Teacher Shari Hiltbrand was selected from across the nation for the prestigious LiftOff Summer Institute held at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. This program is sponsored by NASA’s Texas Space Grant Consortium and selects teachers from across the U.S. to increase their knowledge of space education. The theme of this year’s Institute was Exploration: Past, Present and Future.  The competitive week long institute featured a series of workshops, hands-on activities, field investigations and presentations by NASA scientists and engineers working on various missions.

Mrs. Hiltbrand had the opportunity to interact with astronauts, flight directors and engineers affiliated with the Apollo, Space Shuttle and International Space Station programs.  She toured research facilities at JSC exploring comets, meteor impacts, Lunar rocks and Mars, seeing the most up to date information being processed by the “Curiosity” rover.  Speakers included: Apollo 13 astronaut, Fred Haise; Apollo 13 (and other Apollo and Space Shuttle Missions) Flight Director, Gene Kranz, who is known for his vests; “The Ordinary Spaceman” Clayton Anderson; and senior engineer, Norman Chaffee, who is known for directional engines on both Apollo and Space Shuttle vessels.  Scientists and engineers from the OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Program and the Mars Rover Program also spoke to the group of teachers.  

In between speakers, Mrs. Hiltbrand worked with other teachers doing hands-on activities to reinforce ideas and concepts being explored during the week “creating” a comet, comparing the Earth and the Moon and other planets, making mini-spectroscopes and other activities that can be used in the classroom.  Besides doing hands-on activities, teachers shared a lesson with the group that teachers can then take back to their classrooms. Mrs. Hiltbrand presented her “Physics of Angry Birds” lesson as it helps students better understand how things move, which is important for objects moving in space.  The group of teachers also toured the training facilities that are used by astronauts and scientists in preparation for ISS missions, going into “badge only” areas including Mission Control and Robotics and Neutral Buoyancy Lab where astronauts train for ISS missions.  Wrapping up the week, Mrs. Hiltbrand went through a NASA certification process that allows her to check out Lunar and Meteorite samples for use at Kinkaid with students.          

In spring 2016, over 150 Kinkaid Middle and Upper School students participated in the annual World Language Contests. The contests included competitions utilitzing French,Spanish and Latin at multiple levels. Thank you to the sponsors of the event including The American Association of Teachers of French (AATF), The American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) and The American Classical League (ACL).

Listed below are the student who placed in each category. Congratulations!

The Kinkaid debate team found great success last weekend at the Cypress Lakes High School tournament. Among the 43 schools in attendance, senior Vivian Liu and junior Jiva Ghei placed first and second respectively in the finals of Lincoln-Douglas (LD). Sophomore Jack Scofield also placed in the top 32 in LD. Lastly, Kinkaid's first year team of Karm Ghei and Sahar Punjwani placed in the quarterfinals (top 8) in the varsity policy debate.

Congratulations to these students on a great weekend and good luck moving forward!

It's been a busy month around campus! 
Please click on the video below to view Dr. Martire's October message. 

Nine Kinkaid 5th graders earned medals after competing in a national Halloween mathematics challenge hosted by Mangahigh.com. Competing against 845 schools and 43,000 students throughout the United States and Canada, Kinkaid placed 8th overall after correctly answering over 1,500 math questions throughout an eight-day period. In addition to receiving medals, the class also earned a $250 Amazon gift card. 

Mangahigh.com is one of the world’s first games-based-learning sites, where students learn Mathematics via purpose-built casual games that balance fun and learning. Founded by an experienced team of mathematicians and game specialists, the organization strives to balance game play and education.

Huge congratulations to these talented students! 

Pictured: Onyi Ndee, Camille Pyne, Travis Ainsworth, Peyton Young, Eric Wang, Ethan Goldstein, Hayden Lewitton, Georgia Cooper, Siddharth Agarwala

Kinkaid Debate is finished with a busy fall semester, and it has been a successful one. See below for an update on their many accomplishments! 

November 11-12, Katy Taylor HS Regional Tournament – 49 schools competing: 

• Seniors Sam Richey and Sabrina Bajwa - placed 1st in Policy, receiving 8 of the 12 needed points needed to qualify for TFA (Texas Forensics Association) State Tournament.
• The frosh team of Karm Ghei '20 and Spencer Powers '20 - placed in the semifinals, receiving 10 of the 12 points needed to qualify for TFA State.
• Kinkaid had two more first year teams in the quarterfinals - Hannah Shi '19 & Sahar Punjwani '20 and Camila Vicens '20 & Brian Xu '20.
  

November 19-21 - Glenbrooks Tournament – Chicago – one of the largest & most competitive tournaments in the country with 261 schools competing:

• Sam Richey & Sabrina Bajwa - placed in the top 16 (out of 170 teams) and received their 4th bid to the Tournament of Champions (TOC), sponsored by the University of Kentucky. Sam was awarded the 5th overall speaker & Sabrina the 11th out of 340. Both were invited to attend the Glenbrooks Round Robin following the regular tournament. This is an honor reserved for, what the Glenbrooks believe, are the top 7 teams in the country.
• Senior Jason Yang - placed in the top 32 (out of 180) in Lincoln-Douglas, won his first 6 debates, ending up 6-1, and was awarded the 19th overall speaker award.

November 19-21 – Cypress Creek HS Regional Tournament - 39 schools competing:

• Freshman Shreya Mehta - placed 3rd (semifinals, out of 50+ students) and received points towards qualifying for the TFA State Tournament.

December 2-3 - University Of Texas’ Longhorn Classic – largest tournament in Texas with 113 schools competing:

• Senior Jason Yang - placed 2nd out of 203 competitors in Varsity Lincoln-Douglas (VLD), falling to the top debater from Strake Jesuit in the finals. UT is a TOC qualifier at the semi-final level for LD, and Jason will now be one of the top 72 in the country competing at the University of Kentucky in April.
• Sam Richey and Sabrina Bajwa - placed in the quarterfinals (top 8 out of over 100 teams) in Varsity Policy. Sam was awarded the 3rd overall speaker, out of 200, and Sabrina was awarded the 10th. UT is a TOC qualifier at the quarterfinals level for VP. Sam and Sabrina are one of only 10 teams in the country to have four bids, and they have also qualified for the TFA State Tournament.
• Juniors Minhhy Truong and Lauren Ho - placed in the top 64 out of 140 teams in Varsity Public Forum. Lauren was awarded the 16th speaker award out of 280.
• Sophomores Dani Knobloch and Amy Ho - placed in the top 32 of Policy. 
• Sophomore Jack Scofield was awarded the 11th overall speaker (out of 203 competitors) in VLD.
• We had many successes culminating in the 2nd place overall debate sweepstakes award.  

Congratulations to Kinkaid Debate for a very impressive fall semester of performances! Good luck at the TFA State Tournament and Tournament of Champions!

During the weekend of February 9-12, Kinkaid took twenty-two students to Baltimore for the Johns Hopkins University 20th Annual Model UN Conference. Over 1500 students from all over the country (and three international schools, as well) competed this year. Kinkaid's team did very well, and two of our students won awards.

Anvi Nandish '17 won the Outstanding Delegate Award for playing the part of Sommai Phasee in the Government of Thailand 2014 Committee, and Camila Vicens '20 won the Honorable Mention Award for playing the part of our very own Bob McNair in the NFL Owners Meeting Committee.  Congratulations to Anvi and Camila!

Anvi Nandish '17

Camila Vicens '20

Kinkaid's upper school FTC and VEX Robotics teams recently finished their seasons. 

The FTC Robotics Team, Talon Industries, finished its season Saturday, February 18, at the FIRST First Technical Challenge (FTC) Southeast Texas Regional Championships at San Jacinto College in Pasadena, Texas.  After a thorough presentation to a panel of judges about its team's history, goals and engineering process and a string of qualifying match victories using a new and innovative defensive maneuver, Talon Industries pushed its way into the elimination round ranked 11 out of 36 teams.  Team Talon Industries continued use of its new strategy with success in both of two close and hotly contested semi-final elimination matches to advance to the finals.  Although the team did not record a win in the finals, Coach Vinnie Vrotny said, "The team displayed grit, creativity and perseverance throughout the tournament and season".

FTC Team Talon Industries: Christian Gipson '19, Sasha Busa '20, Joseph Wagnon '19, Julian Meyers '19, Andres Melendez '18, Christos Papandreou '18, Jamie Moseley '18, Nikita Munsif '20, Jeni Rojas '20

The VEX Robotics Team, 1221K, finished its season Saturday, February 25, at the South Texas Regionals in Aldine, Texas.  The highlights for the season included a 2nd place finish at their penultimate tourney after upsetting the 2nd and 3rd seed alliances. Coach Harlan Howe reports, "Team 1221K continued to learn and improve over the course of the year. They have been working since last April, including over the summer. Every tournament, they've shown significant improvement." 

VEX Team 1221K:  Pictured, Kenneth Lam '19, Isabel Gardner '18, Chris Choi '17 (Captain), Jamie Moseley '18, Seb Seager '19.  Not pictured, Zubair Mukhi '17

Congratulations to both teams on a great season!

Congratulations to Tanmay Srinivasan '20 and Ayush Krishnamoorti '20 for being two finalists in The Genes in Space^TM science contest. Among the top five finalists in the annual U.S. competition, 375 teams from grades seven through 12 proposed DNA analysis experiments to address real-life space exploration challenges. The winning experiment will be performed aboard the International Space Station (ISS).