This letter is written on behalf of Lena Konzelman. I’ve known Lena for four years as she participated in the NOHS Science Club and Science Olympiad. I taught her in AP Biology her senior year at North Oconee High School. Being a part of any club or sport teaches you interpersonal communication skills. Students who join in their freshmen year take higher level sciences in later high school years and compete in more events as their knowledge grows. Lena joined Science Club as a freshman and worked with her team throughout her four years at NOHS. There were times when the Science Olympiad competition coincided with Governors Honors Program or All-State Band competitions, but Lena continued to help out her team even if she could not be there on the day of competition. Her freshman year she took direction from the lead captains that year and listened to the upperclassmen about the competitions. She spoke up at team meetings and made notes about her events. The part I love the most about Science Olympiad is that students compete in small groups of two or three students. This helps them learn the value of team work! They work on notes together, review the rules, and compete together in the event. Through the club and competition events students use their communication skills and ultimately win as a team. Five years ago, I became the lead sponsor for Science Club and Science Olympiad and one of the changes I made was to have captains and co-captains for the teams. I wanted to provide another leadership opportunity for the students other than the Science Club officers. At the beginning of her sophomore year I asked Lena if she would be interested in being a co-captain for one of the teams. I told her she would be learning from the captains and helping to assist in the assignments of students to events. She told me she would take on the leadership role. I watched her that year as she learned from the captain and junior co-captain about the sign-up list and assignments to events. She stood her ground about some of the assignments and voiced her opinion about placements. During her junior year she continued as co-captain, but this time she took a more active role in helping to create a Google form for event sign-ups. I watched her work with the other team’s co-captain well and they both took notes about what to do for their senior year as team captains. In the Fall of 2020, Lena asked me about Science Olympiad and whether it would happen this year. She told me she worked through some changes to make and she felt that it would be better than before. Lena and the other team’s captain worked in November to create a Google form to help students choose events. They both continued to work through all the changes that happened this year with events being online for the first time, assigning students to events, reassigning events when we realized the SAT was on the same day as the competition, and being sure their teams were ready for the competition. Together they organized a practice schedule for the teams to stay after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from the end of January to mid-March. Lena learned from the years before about making sure to take notes for events, keeping the notes from one year to the next to add to them, scheduling practice time for groups to meet, being flexible because changes were bound to happen, and providing communication throughout the year. Science Olympiad is the competition that Science Club members compete in during the school year. In the last few years we’ve added an opportunity for the Science Club members to teach sessions at the elementary schools’ science nights. Five to six high school students sign up to teach the elementary school students about science. I limit the tasks to four at each night and the students are responsible for getting the materials and handouts. In February of 2020, I attended the Dove Creek Elementary School Science Night and helped the students there. Lena worked with the students to create homemade slime using corn starch, learn about capillary action in flowers, and use of a microscope. I had a chance to stand back and watch the high school students interact with the elementary school students. Lena did a great job in explaining the materials, helping the students with the tasks, and talking with the parents. I know the students and parents appreciated our help at the event, but I think the high school students learned a lot from that night. For many of my students it is a chance to remember back to the night that started it all for them about why they loved science! They get a chance to spark that same curiosity and passion in a younger student. In the classroom Lena is truly an active learner! She's involved in the class from start to finish - asking questions as she comes into the classroom, engaged with oral response questions, and being attentive with her group members in the class or in the lab. She completed assignments outside of class with our digital platform and AP Classroom. Her commitment to the AP course continued as we reviewed for the AP exam by having review sessions after school. I recall two sessions that Lena missed due to contact tracing with COVID and receiving the vaccine, but she joined the reviews via Google meet. She stayed after several of the review sessions to ask application level questions to clarify her connections to the units. She told me "I see how one unit connects to another now!" I know she'll continue to apply her knowledge, ask thoughtful questions, and be an active learner in her college courses. “With great power comes great responsibility” is a quote that can be applied to Lena. Her transcript shows you the level of coursework she’s taken throughout high school. Knowledge is power, but can you use it well? What you do not see on the transcript is her commitment to Science Club and Science Olympiad all four years of high school. She found a niche and a home in that club! She used her content knowledge in the Science Olympiad events and helped others on her team with their events. It is through her leadership that her team placed in the top five of the high schools for Tier II at the state competition this year. Not only does she work well with her high school teammates, but she does a great job showcasing science to younger learners at elementary school science nights. She used her knowledge (her power) and took on greater responsibilities in her four years at NOHS that will continue to help her in college and her career. I highly recommend Lena be awarded this scholarship as I know she'll continue the active learning, commitment to organizations, and leadership that she started at North Oconee High School.
This letter is written on behalf of Lena Konzelman. I’ve known Lena for four years as she participated in the NOHS Science Club and Science Olympiad. I taught her in AP Biology her senior year at North Oconee High School. Being a part of any club or sport teaches you interpersonal communication skills. Students who join in their freshmen year take higher level sciences in later high school years and compete in more events as their knowledge grows. Lena joined Science Club as a freshman and worked with her team throughout her four years at NOHS. There were times when the Science Olympiad competition coincided with Governors Honors Program or All-State Band competitions, but Lena continued to help out her team even if she could not be there on the day of competition. Her freshman year she took direction from the lead captains that year and listened to the upperclassmen about the competitions. She spoke up at team meetings and made notes about her events. The part I love the most about Science Olympiad is that students compete in small groups of two or three students. This helps them learn the value of team work! They work on notes together, review the rules, and compete together in the event. Through the club and competition events students use their communication skills and ultimately win as a team. Five years ago, I became the lead sponsor for Science Club and Science Olympiad and one of the changes I made was to have captains and co-captains for the teams. I wanted to provide another leadership opportunity for the students other than the Science Club officers. At the beginning of her sophomore year I asked Lena if she would be interested in being a co-captain for one of the teams. I told her she would be learning from the captains and helping to assist in the assignments of students to events. She told me she would take on the leadership role. I watched her that year as she learned from the captain and junior co-captain about the sign-up list and assignments to events. She stood her ground about some of the assignments and voiced her opinion about placements. During her junior year she continued as co-captain, but this time she took a more active role in helping to create a Google form for event sign-ups. I watched her work with the other team’s co-captain well and they both took notes about what to do for their senior year as team captains. In the Fall of 2020, Lena asked me about Science Olympiad and whether it would happen this year. She told me she worked through some changes to make and she felt that it would be better than before. Lena and the other team’s captain worked in November to create a Google form to help students choose events. They both continued to work through all the changes that happened this year with events being online for the first time, assigning students to events, reassigning events when we realized the SAT was on the same day as the competition, and being sure their teams were ready for the competition. Together they organized a practice schedule for the teams to stay after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from the end of January to mid-March. Lena learned from the years before about making sure to take notes for events, keeping the notes from one year to the next to add to them, scheduling practice time for groups to meet, being flexible because changes were bound to happen, and providing communication throughout the year. Science Olympiad is the competition that Science Club members compete in during the school year. In the last few years we’ve added an opportunity for the Science Club members to teach sessions at the elementary schools’ science nights. Five to six high school students sign up to teach the elementary school students about science. I limit the tasks to four at each night and the students are responsible for getting the materials and handouts. In February of 2020, I attended the Dove Creek Elementary School Science Night and helped the students there. Lena worked with the students to create homemade slime using corn starch, learn about capillary action in flowers, and use of a microscope. I had a chance to stand back and watch the high school students interact with the elementary school students. Lena did a great job in explaining the materials, helping the students with the tasks, and talking with the parents. I know the students and parents appreciated our help at the event, but I think the high school students learned a lot from that night. For many of my students it is a chance to remember back to the night that started it all for them about why they loved science! They get a chance to spark that same curiosity and passion in a younger student. In the classroom Lena is truly an active learner! She's involved in the class from start to finish - asking questions as she comes into the classroom, engaged with oral response questions, and being attentive with her group members in the class or in the lab. She completed assignments outside of class with our digital platform and AP Classroom. Her commitment to the AP course continued as we reviewed for the AP exam by having review sessions after school. I recall two sessions that Lena missed due to contact tracing with COVID and receiving the vaccine, but she joined the reviews via Google meet. She stayed after several of the review sessions to ask application level questions to clarify her connections to the units. She told me "I see how one unit connects to another now!" I know she'll continue to apply her knowledge, ask thoughtful questions, and be an active learner in her college courses. “With great power comes great responsibility” is a quote that can be applied to Lena. Her transcript shows you the level of coursework she’s taken throughout high school. Knowledge is power, but can you use it well? What you do not see on the transcript is her commitment to Science Club and Science Olympiad all four years of high school. She found a niche and a home in that club! She used her content knowledge in the Science Olympiad events and helped others on her team with their events. It is through her leadership that her team placed in the top five of the high schools for Tier II at the state competition this year. Not only does she work well with her high school teammates, but she does a great job showcasing science to younger learners at elementary school science nights. She used her knowledge (her power) and took on greater responsibilities in her four years at NOHS that will continue to help her in college and her career. I highly recommend Lena be awarded this scholarship as I know she'll continue the active learning, commitment to organizations, and leadership that she started at North Oconee High School.
This letter is written on behalf of Lena Konzelman. I’ve known Lena for four years as she participated in the NOHS Science Club and Science Olympiad. I taught her in AP Biology her senior year at North Oconee High School. Being a part of any club or sport teaches you interpersonal communication skills. Students who join in their freshmen year take higher level sciences in later high school years and compete in more events as their knowledge grows. Lena joined Science Club as a freshman and worked with her team throughout her four years at NOHS. There were times when the Science Olympiad competition coincided with Governors Honors Program or All-State Band competitions, but Lena continued to help out her team even if she could not be there on the day of competition. Her freshman year she took direction from the lead captains that year and listened to the upperclassmen about the competitions. She spoke up at team meetings and made notes about her events. The part I love the most about Science Olympiad is that students compete in small groups of two or three students. This helps them learn the value of team work! They work on notes together, review the rules, and compete together in the event. Through the club and competition events students use their communication skills and ultimately win as a team. Five years ago, I became the lead sponsor for Science Club and Science Olympiad and one of the changes I made was to have captains and co-captains for the teams. I wanted to provide another leadership opportunity for the students other than the Science Club officers. At the beginning of her sophomore year I asked Lena if she would be interested in being a co-captain for one of the teams. I told her she would be learning from the captains and helping to assist in the assignments of students to events. She told me she would take on the leadership role. I watched her that year as she learned from the captain and junior co-captain about the sign-up list and assignments to events. She stood her ground about some of the assignments and voiced her opinion about placements. During her junior year she continued as co-captain, but this time she took a more active role in helping to create a Google form for event sign-ups. I watched her work with the other team’s co-captain well and they both took notes about what to do for their senior year as team captains. In the Fall of 2020, Lena asked me about Science Olympiad and whether it would happen this year. She told me she worked through some changes to make and she felt that it would be better than before. Lena and the other team’s captain worked in November to create a Google form to help students choose events. They both continued to work through all the changes that happened this year with events being online for the first time, assigning students to events, reassigning events when we realized the SAT was on the same day as the competition, and being sure their teams were ready for the competition. Together they organized a practice schedule for the teams to stay after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from the end of January to mid-March. Lena learned from the years before about making sure to take notes for events, keeping the notes from one year to the next to add to them, scheduling practice time for groups to meet, being flexible because changes were bound to happen, and providing communication throughout the year. Science Olympiad is the competition that Science Club members compete in during the school year. In the last few years we’ve added an opportunity for the Science Club members to teach sessions at the elementary schools’ science nights. Five to six high school students sign up to teach the elementary school students about science. I limit the tasks to four at each night and the students are responsible for getting the materials and handouts. In February of 2020, I attended the Dove Creek Elementary School Science Night and helped the students there. Lena worked with the students to create homemade slime using corn starch, learn about capillary action in flowers, and use of a microscope. I had a chance to stand back and watch the high school students interact with the elementary school students. Lena did a great job in explaining the materials, helping the students with the tasks, and talking with the parents. I know the students and parents appreciated our help at the event, but I think the high school students learned a lot from that night. For many of my students it is a chance to remember back to the night that started it all for them about why they loved science! They get a chance to spark that same curiosity and passion in a younger student. In the classroom Lena is truly an active learner! She's involved in the class from start to finish - asking questions as she comes into the classroom, engaged with oral response questions, and being attentive with her group members in the class or in the lab. She completed assignments outside of class with our digital platform and AP Classroom. Her commitment to the AP course continued as we reviewed for the AP exam by having review sessions after school. I recall two sessions that Lena missed due to contact tracing with COVID and receiving the vaccine, but she joined the reviews via Google meet. She stayed after several of the review sessions to ask application level questions to clarify her connections to the units. She told me "I see how one unit connects to another now!" I know she'll continue to apply her knowledge, ask thoughtful questions, and be an active learner in her college courses. “With great power comes great responsibility” is a quote that can be applied to Lena. Her transcript shows you the level of coursework she’s taken throughout high school. Knowledge is power, but can you use it well? What you do not see on the transcript is her commitment to Science Club and Science Olympiad all four years of high school. She found a niche and a home in that club! She used her content knowledge in the Science Olympiad events and helped others on her team with their events. It is through her leadership that her team placed in the top five of the high schools for Tier II at the state competition this year. Not only does she work well with her high school teammates, but she does a great job showcasing science to younger learners at elementary school science nights. She used her knowledge (her power) and took on greater responsibilities in her four years at NOHS that will continue to help her in college and her career. I highly recommend Lena be awarded this scholarship as I know she'll continue the active learning, commitment to organizations, and leadership that she started at North Oconee High School.