May 22

Imagine This!

This past weekend about 28 of our freshmen and sophomore Magnetos and four MST staff loaded up the big yellow limousine and took the long sojourn to Washington State University to compete in the annual Imagine Tomorrow science competition. Our students did very well this year.

If you’re not familiar with the event, the organizers state that, “Alaska Airlines Imagine Tomorrow challenges 9th through 12th graders to seek new ways to support the transition to sustainability. Students research complex topics related to sustainability, then innovate technologies, designs, or plans to mobilize behavior. They forge connections in their communities and create positive change. In this competition, as in life, solutions are limited only by imagination.”  We took eight teams in total, and half of them earned awards, giving us our best showing in the history of our participation in this competition.  Here are the winners:

  • 1st Place in the Boeing Aerospace Challenge (Design), freshmen Amy Fan, Emma McBride, Bailey Segal, and Kenneth Wright for Incorporating Aquatic Snails Into Vertical-Style Home Based Aquaponics
  • 1st Place in the The McKinstry Built Environment Challenge (Behavior), sophomores Kaitlin Beel, Cole Childers, Anthony Choi, Harrison Cole, and Zack Shafer for The Effectiveness and Environmental Effects of Chloride-Based Deicers
  • 2nd Place in the The Biofuels Challenge (Technology), freshmen Sierra Mellor and Hannah Tangen for Evolving Aeroponics: Growing Plants in Air
  • 2nd Place in the The McKinstry Built Environment Challenge (Design) & The Global Innovation Award, freshmen Sarah Chelsey, Chloe Higgins, Rose Leveen, Odessa Thompson, and Mary-Elizabeth Wurzer for Protecting the Environment with Bioplastics

Congratulations to the 400 or so students who attended from some 30 schools across both Washington and Idaho. Whether awards were won or not, the experience is always a good one to be on your feet talking with experts in the field you’ve also worked in.  Bravo!

P.S. If you’d like to see how we’ve done over the years at Imagine Tomorrow, visit this document: IT Historical for CHS.

Permanent link to this article: https://chsmstmagnet.com/2017/05/imagine-this-2/

May 03

Rising Seniors Placed in M.I.T. Summer Program

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Rising MST seniors Noah Thompson and Daniel Fan participated this winter and spring in pre-requisite, online coursework via the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as one step in their goal of earning placement in the prestigious Beaver Works Summer Institute to be held over four weeks on the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We just received notification this week that their efforts paid off, with both students earning fully-funded, residential placement in this summer’s program. Bravo!

“Beaver Works is a joint venture between MIT Lincoln Laboratory and the MIT School of Engineering that is envisioned as an incubator for research and innovation. Beaver Works facilitates project-based learning, a hallmark of an MIT education, and leverages the expertise and enthusiasm of MIT faculty, students, researchers, and Lincoln Laboratory staff to broaden partnerships with MIT campus and students.” According to Robert Shin, the director of the Beaver Works, “The goal of the Beaver Works Summer Institute is to offer a truly challenging learning experience to exceptional high school students with an interest in STEM.”

Congratulations, Noah and Daniel, on earning placement in this prestigious MIT program! Check out this video of the MIT BWSI to get a deeper sense of what they’ll be doing this summer.

Permanent link to this article: https://chsmstmagnet.com/2017/05/rising-mst-seniors-earn-spots-in-m-i-t-summer-program/

Apr 26

Magnet Night of Service at CCFB

On Tuesday, April 25th, about 50 Magnet students and staff took a break from preparing for AP tests and showed up at the Clark County Food Bank in Vancouver to engage in some community service.  The team of freshmen through senior students worked together to sort and pack various dry good products for distribution to local families. In the end, we sorted over 31,000 pounds of goods in just under two hours. Thank you, CCFB, for the opportunity to serve the people of Clark County on your behalf.

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Permanent link to this article: https://chsmstmagnet.com/2017/04/magnet-night-of-service-at-ccfb-2/

Apr 17

Magnet Promo Video

The District asked us to come up with a short video that makes use of our students in describing the program, its benefits, whether or not to apply if you’re on the fence, etc.  We asked the questions, the kids answered them.  Here’s our finished product.  Thank you, Magnet student ambassadors for your help with this project!

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Permanent link to this article: https://chsmstmagnet.com/2017/04/magnet-promo-video/

Apr 17

Much Ado about Ashland 2017!

Friends, Papermakers, Magnetos, lend me your ears!  The CHS MST Magnet program will travel to Ashland, Oregon next September, 2017, to attend performances of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and Shakespeare in Love, as well as go on a backstage “multimedia” tour.  We will miss most of Friday 09/22/17, leaving somewhere around 2nd period that day, TDB and finalized in the fall. As usual, we’ll stay at the Ashland Commons Youth Hostel and take over the entire establishment, with the guys in one area, the gals in another.  We should be back to Camas High School by about 11 PM on Saturday night, 09/23. In our exit interviews with graduating Magnet students, this experience is often cited as one of their favorite Magnet memories.  So don’t miss out on this every other year opportunity to see professional live theater in a spectacular setting.

This year we have slots for about 50 students.  A block of about 15 slots will be reserved for the incoming freshmen, with the rest of the slots going on a first-come-first-served basis to other interested Magnet students. The cost is $175/student, which covers transportation, lodging, two shows, and a Saturday morning backstage multimedia tour with actors and OSF staff. We do have need-based scholarships available. Contact Mr. Greene if you’d like to look into this. Payment can be made to the CHS ASB office by check or cash.  You also have the option of paying for this online with credit card (3.5% service fee):  https://wa-camas.intouchreceipting.com/

After you’ve paid for and secured a spot, please download the Ashland Perm Slip and return it to Mr. Greene in room 710 at CHS or via email.

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Permanent link to this article: https://chsmstmagnet.com/2017/04/much-ado-about-ashland-2017/

Apr 12

Congrats to WSSEF 2017 Participants

Congratulations to our Camas High School students who competed in the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair over spring break.

Freshman:

  • Alexis Howard, Walter Scheldorf, and Jordan Chase: 1st in Mechanical Engineering
  • Rose Leveen and Odessa Thompson: 2nd in Environmental Science
  • Elizabeth Parker, Aanya Friedeman, and Mackenzie Snell: 2nd in Bioengineering
  • Amy Fan and Bailey Segall: 2nd in Environmental Engineering
  • Rhianna Fitzgerald and Thomas Hull: 2nd in Mechanics and Engineering
  • Elizabeth Nilles and Mary-Elizabeth Wurzer: 1st in Environmental Science
  • Junha Lee, Jaden Kim, and Edward Bogachuk: 1st in Physical Energy

Sophomores:

  • Rahul Ram: 1st in Bioinformatics
  • Devank and Shevank Shekhar: 1st in Bioengineering
  • Special shout out to Tsering Shola: 1st in Life Sciences and invited to compete at the international level in Los Angeles.

Junior:

  • Sarah Wells-Moran: 1st in Engineering

Permanent link to this article: https://chsmstmagnet.com/2017/04/congrats-to-wssef-2017-participants/

Apr 10

Magnet Night of Service at CCFB

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Magnetos, join us in a couple of weeks for a night of service on Tuesday, April 25th, from 5:30-7:30 PM, at the Clark County Food Bank. We need about 50 volunteers to work with teams of other Magnetos and staff to repackage bulk donations for distribution to local families.

If you’d like to do this, sign up here: Magnet Night of Service at CCFB Sign Up  To be clear, you’ll need to provide your own transportation, and you’ll also need to have your parent/guardian fill out the Volunteer Registration form that I’ll collect from you before the event. Please deliver those to me in 710. Come on, Magnetos, let’s do this!  See below for more info:

Arriving at CCFB

For travel options and directions to our facility, click here. Please arrive 5-10 minutes before your shift. Check in at the front desk when you arrive. If you are arriving after hours, please ring the doorbell at the main entrance. The volunteer orientation begins promptly at the scheduled start time. If you arrive late, please check in with a Volunteer Shift Leader for directions.

Safety Guidelines

  • You will be turned away if you are wearing improper footwear as you will be working in the warehouse. Shoes must have closed toes and heels (no sandals, clogs, slippers or high heels).
  • All new volunteers are required to complete a Volunteer Registration form.
  • All volunteers are required to sign in and out on the Volunteer Service Log as a way to track volunteer hours.
  • Parents and/or guardians are required to sign Volunteer Waiver forms for first-time volunteers under the age of 18 years.
  • If you have cold symptoms or open wounds, please do not show up to volunteer.
  • Temperatures in the volunteer areas can vary. Layers are recommended.

 

Permanent link to this article: https://chsmstmagnet.com/2017/04/magnet-night-of-service-at-ccfb/

Mar 21

Which Financial Aid Package to Accept?

Making decisions about which college offer and financial aid package to accept can incite feelings of panic and confusion. To aid with both decisions, the college acceptance and the financial aid piece, the US Department of Education has some suggestions for both students and parents to consider.

Contact Mrs. Liebe with questions.

Permanent link to this article: https://chsmstmagnet.com/2017/03/which-financial-aid-package-to-accept/

Feb 22

MST Admissions Timeline Updated

The effects of this winter’s many inclement weather days continue to reverberate as we move down the final stretch of the MST admissions and recruitment process. See below for the updates to our timeline. For the purpose of forecasting (if it happens prior to admissions decisions on 3/17/17), students should forecast for their “normal” coursework. Schedules will be adjusted and updated later this spring by Mrs. Anderson.

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Permanent link to this article: https://chsmstmagnet.com/2017/02/mst-admissions-timeline-updated/

Feb 13

CHS Science Oly Triumphant at Cal Berkeley!

Students from CHS (and many from the MST Magnet) traveled this past weekend down to Cal Berkeley to participate in the Golden Gate Science Olympiad Invitational, which is led by previous S.O. national medalists and students from Stanford and Cal Berkeley, including our very own Jon Bartlett (CHS/MST ’15), currently studying bio-engineering at Stanford (’19). The Golden Gate Invitational is, indeed, an impressive collaboration between Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley, showcasing some of the top science high schools in the United States; it’s an honor for our team to be invited to this.

The short version of the story is that CHS Science Oly. took an impressive 6th place out of 45 total teams from across the United States! Perhaps most impressive, though, is that they did this in a compressed span of only three hours (teams usually do their events over the course of 6+ hours). They were forced into doing this when the CHS team’s arrival by train at Berkeley was delayed significantly by track closures in/around Sacramento due to flooding. Undaunted, CHS quickly figured out en route to Cal a schedule that would allow them to do their events in that short time if they could get to the tournament and if they could get approval from the tournament organizers to do so, all of which they did.  Great team work … Congrats, CHS Science Oly!

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Permanent link to this article: https://chsmstmagnet.com/2017/02/chs-science-oly-triumphant-at-cal-berkeley/