Last weekend upper school students represented the school at the National Preps wrestling tournament tomorrow and Saturday. They worked 20 hours this weekend at one of the most premier wrestling events in the country. Participants included seniors Zemen Weldemichael, Jackson Lewis, Annika Jobanputra, Diego Rodriguez, and sophomores Julia Hallam and Leah Bleimehl.

Upper school students received scholarships to travel with National Geographic this summer and the chance to document their experiences. Juniors Micah Shuford, Luke Paci and senior Antoinae Rogers were selected to travel with National Geographic this summer! Micah will either go to the Galapagos to study Wildlife Conservation or Norway to study Anthropology, Culture and Tradition. Luke will either travel to Thailand or Norway to study Anthropology, Culture and Tradition. Antoinae will either travel to Baja California or Yellowstone to study Photography. Please congratulate them when you see them! Many thanks to Mr. Bhuva for facilitating these opportunities for our students.

For the fourth consecutive year, Washington Latin’s Government classes participated in the DC Historical Society’s Mock Court Program. Students from Ms. Colt’s and Mr. Liu’s classes spent several weeks working with distinguished volunteer lawyers to prepare oral arguments in cases involving the First and Fourth Amendments. Yesterday (March 2) students presented their arguments before two real-life judges. Ms. Colt’s class presented before Judge Hiram Puig-Lugo of the D.C. Superior Court and Mr. Liu’s class presented before Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The students who presented included Baille Cooper, Isaac Davenport, Paulina Inglima, Idrisah Janneh, Serenity Johnson, Eden Olsen, Jack Pearson, Kai Pfeuffer, Tomas Portilla-Marchiori, Cydney Roberts, Catherine Shepherd, Connor Smith, Archer Griffin, Alex Kelley, Beimnet Addis, Lucia Claire, Alice Pittard, Natalie Timberg, Brandon Souverain, Capri Romney, Greer Mcphie, Brooke Oliver and Max Aaron. All students did an amazing job answering tough questions from the judges and applying the facts of the case to the precedents, with the judges recognizing Bailee Cooper and Brandon Souverain for their outstanding presentations. Afterward, one of the volunteer lawyers, Judge Andrea Hertzfeld of the D.C. Superior Court, hosted our students for a Q&A session in her courtroom, which also included a U.S. Marshall. Students asked great questions of both and learned a great deal about our legal system. A number of other schools participated in this annual program, including School Without Walls, Maret, H.D. Woodson and several other area high schools.

The Upper School Science Fair this Friday took place in the MPR, featuring the work of freshmen in Mr. Keller and Ms. Torrence’s students. Students performed long-term research projects formulating a hypothesis, conducting research, evaluating results, writing about their findings, and demonstrating their public speaking skills. Judges included parents and community members. 

Students in Chinese 1 and 2 at Second Street Campus took field trips on Wednesday and Thursday to practice their new language and cultural awareness. Students were involved in doing a scavenger hunt at the Great Wall Supermarket in Rockville where they had to recognize characters on food items and newspapers. Students then had lunch at the Spot Asian Food Hall nearby. The Chinese 1 and 2 classes are taught by Mr. Liu.