Marian High School In the News

March 27, 2008 - The following 15 students competed in the Northern Indiana Regional Science and Engineering Fair on March 16^th at the University of Notre Dame. Their awards are included.

Eric Anderson (along with partner Brandyn Baumbaugh from Penn): 2^nd place in Physics; JINA Junior Researcher Award ($100); SEFI, Inc.-Team Award ($75)

Jeremy Chase: 4^th place in Plant Sciences

Katie Firth: 4^th place in Medicine & Health

PJ Flynn: 3^rd place in Energy & Transportation

Sean Hendricks: 1^st place in Biochemistry; Yale Science & Engineering Award; Bayer Grade Level Award – 11^th Grade ($20); U. S. Army Award; Notre Dame College of Science Dean’s Award ($150); NISMEC Award for Top Project at the Fair ($50)

Lauren Hodge: 1^st place in Biochemistry; U.S. Air Force Award; Senior Bayer Life Science Award (&150)

Michael Hunckler: 3^rd place in Physics; Herbert Hoover Young Engineer Award

Lauren Jessup: 1^st place in Cellular & Molecular Biology; Notre Dame Biology Award ($200); U.S.Navy/U.S. Marine Corps award ($50); Bethel College Award ($10,000 scholarship); Society for In Vitro Biology Award; SEFI, Inc. Award – Senior Alternate ($75)

Caitlyn Koscielski: 3^rd place in Environmental Science

Matt Riesbeck: 1^st place in Behavioral Sciences; Notre Dame Arts & Letters Award ($50)

Stefan Sokolowski: 2^nd place in Environmental Management

Hunter Stallman: 3^rd place in Physics; U. S. Army Award

Caroline Trippel: 1^st place in Chemistry; Sigma Xi Award; U.S. Army Award

Tony White: 3^rd place in Biochemistry

Lauren Zmirski: 1^st place in Engineering; American Society of Quality Control Award ($200); Notre Dame Physics Award ($100 bond); Bethel College Award ($2500 Scholarship); INTEL Excellence in Computer Science Award ($200)

Eric Anderson and Lauren Jessup both advance to the Indiana State Science & Engineering Fair on April 5th, with the chance to win a spot to the INTEL International Science & Engineering Fair.
Sean Hendricks advances to both the Indiana State Fair and the INTEL International Fair, to be held in Atlanta, Georgia in May.

March 6 - 8, 2008 - Marian Research students traveled to Indiana State University in Terre Haute for the Indiana Junior Science and Humanities Symposium. Marian was represented by 5 power point presenters, chosen as part of the top 20 applicants. These 5 were Eric Anderson, Sean Hendricks, Stefan Sokolowski, Caroline Trippel and Lauren Zmirski. Sean Hendricks placed 3^rd, earning a $1000 scholarship. Eric Anderson placed 5^th. Both these boys were awarded the opportunity to attend the National Symposium held in Orlando, Florida. Marian also had 11 poster presenters. Sean Hendricks and Hunter Stallman tied for 2^nd place in the poster competition, winning trophies, flash drives and autographed books. Congratulations to Marian’s researchers!

February 16, 2008 - the Marian Science Olympiad team traveled to Saint Joseph's College in Rensselaer. The team placed third in overall competition and advances to state competition in Bloomington on March 29.

Medal winners were:

Cell Biology – 2^nd place: Donnacha O’Brien and Sun Ho Ro

Chemistry Lab – 3^rd place: Lauren Zmirski and Jack Chartier

Circuit Lab – 3^rd place: Patrick Chi and Alex Robinson

Disease Detective – 3^rd place: Alex Robinson and Stefan Sokolowski

Five Star Science – 1^st place: Lauren Zmirski and Jack Chartier

Food Science – 3^rd place: Patrick Chi and Alex Robinson

Forensics – 1^st place: Lauren Zmirski and Jack Chartier

Oceanography – 3^rd place: Patrick Chi and Lance Mulcahey

Physics Lab – 2^nd place: Patrick Chi and Alex Robinson

Robot Ramble – 1^st place: Patrick Chi and Lance Mulcahey

Sounds of Music – 3^rd place: Donnacha O’Brien and Alex Robinson

Twelve Marian students applied to present at the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium to be held at Indiana State University in Terre Haute on March 6-8. Five of these students have been chosen to present. They are: Eric Anderson, Sean Hendricks, Stefan Sokolowski, Caroline Trippel and Lauren Zmirski.

January 31, 2008 - Exemplary Status from Indiana Department of Education

The Indiana Department of Education just released our preliminary ranking for AYP and P.L. 221. Thanks to our hard working, talented and compassionate faculty and staff, our students scored very well. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) requires statewide reporting of schools’ performance and improvement. This is called AYP-Adequate Yearly Progress. Their determination is based upon ISTEP scores, attendance rates, and graduation rates. Public Law 221-1999 (Indiana Code 20-31-8), requires the Indiana State Board of Education to assess the performance and improvement of every school corporation, public school, and accredited nonpublic school. Performance is based on fall 2007 test-takers at the buildings where students were in attendance during 2006-2007 on May 1 or after. The improvement component is based on a three-year rolling average of nonmobile students (students who stay at the same school, not students who cannot move). Based on these results, school corporations and schools are placed into one of the following categories: Exemplary Progress, Commendable Progress, Academic Progress, Academic Watch (Priority), Academic Probation (High Priority)

We received a score for performance (90.7%) and a score for improvement (.2%) Performance and improvement are combined for a school’s score.

The performance score is calculated as follows:

182 sophomores x 2 tests for each sophomore (English/Language Arts and Math) = 364

90.7% = Of the 364 tests taken by the 182 sophomores, 332 tests were passed

(332/364 x 100 = 90.7% performance score for Marian )

January 31, 2008 - Financial Aid Endowment

To honor Bishop D’Arcy for his 50 years as a priest, Our Sunday Visitor, based in Huntington Indiana, has established an endowment for each of the four Catholic High Schools in our diocese: Marian, Saint Joseph’s, Bishop Luers, and Bishop Dwenger. One million dollars is placed in an endowment for each school. Beginning next year, Marian will receive a minimum of $50,000 to be used for financial aid. We are grateful to Our Sunday Visitor for their tremendous generosity and support for the Catholic High Schools, and to Bishop D’Arcy for his leadership and dedication to all the schools of our diocese.

December 14, 2007 - From the Science Department

Twelve Marian Research Students have been awarded Science Research Grants from the Indiana Academy of Science. We had fourteen students apply. The Academy awards a total of $5000 in the state. Marian students received a total of $2809, once again more than half the amount available. Individual award winners and their topics are:

Eric Anderson (08) – “Scintillating and Waveshifting Fibers” - $300

Jeremy Chase (09) – “Chloroplast DNA Variation and Seed Dispersal in East African Acacia brevispica” - $300

Katie Firth (09) – “Functionalized X-Ray Contrast Agents for Microdamage Detection” - $208

Sean Hendricks (09) – “Altering Sequence-Specific Motions Guiding Protein-Protein Interactions” - $140

Lauren Hodge (08) – “Protein Kinase C Gamma Recruitment to the Biological Membrane – Phase 2” - $300

Lauren Jessup (09) – “Characterization and Mapping of the L(2)-K01302 Gene on Chromosome II in Drosophila” - $300

Matt Riesbeck (08) – “Differences in Sensitiviy to Disgust Between Different Levels of Moral Judgment” - $210

Stefan Sokolowski (09) – “The Correlation Between Fish Length, Age and the Time Period in Which the Specimen was Collected” - $75

Hunter Stallman (09) – “The Reflection of Different Photon Frequencies by Mirrors on a Photon Storage Device” - $298

Caroline Trippel (09) – “Impact of Crystal Growth in Groundwater on Radionuclide Transport” - $300

Tony White (09) – “Engineering Preferential Association in T-Cell Receptor’s αβ Pairs” - $279

Lauren Zmirski (09) – “Exploration and Engineering of a W-Band Passive Imaging System” - $99

In addition, Lauren Zmirski has been accepted to participate in the Molecular Medicine in Action Program at the Wells Center for Pediatric Research at IUPUI. She was chosen as one of 50 out of the state.

October 30, 2007 - From the Science Department

Lauren Hodge (‘08) was named one of the thirteen finalists in the 2007 Indiana Science Talent Search. Lauren’s ongoing research focuses on Protein Kinase C Gamma recruitment to biological membranes, which has applications to cancer treatment research.

Marian’s representatives in the Indiana Junior Academy of Science competition, held on November 5 at IU Bloomington, are:

Outstanding Junior Scientist (top 12 in the state) – Lauren Hodge (’08), Emily Blanche (’08)

Research Paper competition (also top 12 in state) – Emily Lohr (‘10), Matt Riesbeck (‘08)

Issues Presentation – Amanda Magaldi (’11)

Problem Solving Exam – Rachel Gilman (’10), Katie Mischler (’10)

Science Olympiad competition – Lauren Zmirski (’09), Caitlyn Koscielski (’09)

Eric Anderson (’08) has been named a semi-finalist in the Siemens Competition. The Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology recognizes remarkable talent early on, fostering individual growth for high school students who are willing to challenge themselves through science research. Through this competition, students have an opportunity to achieve national recognition for science research projects that they complete in high school. It is administered by the College Board and funded by the Siemens Foundation. Eric worked throughout the summer at Notre Dame’s Quarknet research facility, manufacturing and testing scintillating and waveshifting fibers for particle detector research. Eric shares this honor with his two team members, Brandyn Baumbaugh and Ruvi Chauhan of Penn High School. Only seven students in the state of Indiana qualified as semi-finalists.

Tony Coiro (’08) also spent his summer working at Quarknet. Tony was part of a team that constructed the Cosmic Ray Interactive Lab, a cosmic ray (specifically muon) detector. Tony worked in construction and programming of the device, and assisted in the installation of two of these detectors; one at Adler Planetarium in Chicago, and one at CERN in Switzerland. Three more will be installed at Fermilab, the Smithsonian, and at Notre Dame.

Fourteen students in Marian’s Advanced Research course are submitting grant applications to the Indiana Academy of Science to receive funding for their research. Students can receive up to $300 to support scientific investigations. In the past two years, Marian students have received the majority of the grant money awarded by the Academy in the entire state.

September 18, 2007 -Lauren Hodge has been chosen to represent Marian this year in the Indiana Science Talent Search. Lauren will be presenting her research from last year, “Protein Kinase C Gamma Recruitment to the Biological Membrane.” This competition takes place on October 26-27 at IU Kokomo. Only 12 students in Indiana are chosen for this competition. Congratulations Lauren!

May 19, 2007 - From May 13^th through May 19^th, three Marian seniors competed in the INTEL International Science and Engineering Fair. Melissa Baranay, Emily Cook and Paul Baranay spent a week in Albuquerque, New Mexico, among 1512 student competitors, presenting 1211 projects from 50 countries. Melissa competed in the Environmental Science category which included 62 projects. Emily’s category was Engineering: Materials and Bioengineering, including 55 projects. Paul was in the Biochemistry category which consisted of 45 projects. Amidst such extreme competition, only 7 awards went to Indiana students. Of those seven, two were awarded to Melissa Baranay. Melissa won a U.S. Army award consisting of 3 $1000 U.S. Savings Bonds, a Certificate of Achievement, and a gold medallion. She also won a 3^rd place Grand award (the highest placement received by an Indiana student) consisting of $1000. Only 5 3^rd place awards were given in the category. Congratulations to these three outstanding young scientists. We are extremely proud of their achievements.

April 20, 2007 - Three Marian Seniors are now published authors! Paul Baranay, Emily Cook and Sara Niedbalski have had their research abstracts published in The Hoosier Science Teacher (Vol.23, #3, Spring, 2007). Congratulations to these young scientists.

On March 31^st, five Marian High School students represented the Northern Indiana Regional Science Fair at IUPUI for the 19^th Annual Hoosier State Science and Engineering Fair, sponsored by the Science Education Foundation of Indiana (SEFI). Paul Baranay and Emily Cook competed in the Finalist division, and Melissa Baranay, Mark Fraser and Lauren Hodge competed in the Senior division. Special honors won by these students were:

Mark Fraser: $1000 Indiana University, Bloomington Scholarship

Emily Cook: $500 renewable IUPUI Purdue School of Engineering Scholarship

$250 USPatent.com award from Woodard, Emhardt, Moriarty, McNett & Henry LLP

U. S. Naval Research Award

International Society for Optical Engineering Award

2^nd place overall in the Finalist Division for Physical Science

$6200 Weaver Scholarship (the most prestigious scholarship award presented by SEFI)

Melissa Baranay: Purdue School of Agriculture Award

1^st place overall in the Senior Division for Physical Science

SEFI Award to compete in the International Science and Engineering Fair in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Melissa, Paul and Emily will be competing at the International Fair in May. This is the first time the Northern Indiana Fair has had 3 representatives from the same school attending International Fair.

March 19, 2007 - Seven Marian students participated in the 2007 Indiana Junior Science and Humanities Symposium held at Indiana State University on March 15-17.

Participants were: Melissa Baranay, Paul Baranay, Emily Blanche, Mark Fraser, Lauren Hodge, Matt Mancini, and Matt Riesbeck.

In the poster competition, Paul Baranay came in 5th overall, Mark Fraser came in 2nd, and Melissa Baranay placed 1st.

In the power point presentation, Melissa Baranay was awarded 3rd alternate, Emily Blanche got 2nd alternate, and Paul Baranay once again took 3rd place overall, winning a $1000 scholarship and a trip to the National Symposium in Alabama.

March 13, 2007 - Science Olympiad - On February 17^th, two Marian teams competed in Regional Science Olympiad competitions. The first team went to St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer. This team placed second overall, advancing to the state competition on March 31^st.

2^nd place in Experimental Design – Sara Niedbalski, Liz Marzotto and Jamie Scott

The second team struggled through the snowy weather and unfortunately arrived at IUPUI late, limiting their participation.

On March 3^rd, 15 Marian students competed in the Regional Science Fair at Notre Dame. Participants and their awards were:

Katie Sullivan (11): 3^rd place in Biochemistry; Bayer Life Science Award – 11^th Grade

Matt Riesbeck (11): 1^st place in Behavioral Science; Notre Dame Arts & Letters Dean Award

Meeghan Miller (12): 2^nd place in Medicine & Health; Bayer Life Science Award – 12^th Grade; U.S. Army Award

Katy Winters (9): 2^nd place in Engineering/Materials Science; Herbert Hoover Young Engineers Award; Bethel College 2^nd place Scholarship Award

Emily Lohr (9): 2^nd place in Animal Sciences; Bayer Life Science Award – 9^th Grade

Sara Niedbalski (12): 1^st place in Engineering/Mechanical & Electrical; Notre Dame Math Department Award; U. S. Army Top Award; U. S. Navy Award

Mark Fraser (11): 1^st place in Medicine & Health; Notre Dame Biology Award; SEFI Alternate Award

Lauren Hodge (11): 1^st place in Biochemistry; Bayer Life Science Award – Overall Senior Division; SEFI Alternate Award

Melissa Baranay (12): 1^st place in Earth Sciences; Iota Sigma Pi Award; Purdue School of Agriculture Award; Sigma Xi Award; U.S. Army Award; SEFI Alternate Award

These 3 students will compete at the Hoosier Science and Engineering Fair at IUPUI on March 31^st. Among other prizes, they are competing for additional spots to compete at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Paul Baranay (12): 1^st place in Biochemistry; Bethel College Scholarship Award; Notre Dame College of Science Dean Award; U.S. Army Award; Honeywell Top Project Award

Emily Cook (12): 1^st place in Engineering/Bioengineering; Bethel College Scholarship Award; Notre Dame College of Engineering Dean Award; Honeywell Top Project Award

These two students automatically advance to the International Science and Engineering Fair in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from May 13 through May 19. They will also be competing in the Hoosier Fair in the Finalist division.

Twelve Marian students applied to present at the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium held at Indiana State University in Terre Haute on March 15-17. Seven of these students have been chosen to present. They are Melissa Baranay, Paul Baranay, Emily Blanche, Emily Cook, Mark Fraser, Matt Mancini and Matt Riesbeck.

December 18, 2006 - Once again, the members of the Marian Advanced Research class shine. This year, 17 students submitted grant proposals to the Indiana Academy of Science. The following ten students have been granted funding:

Emily Cook (07) - $300

Molly Firth (08) - $300

Emily Blanche (08) - $299

Colin Van Es (07) - $173

Sara Niedbalski (07) - $300

Mark Fraser (08) - $300

Melissa Baranay (07) - $300

Vanessa Monaghan (07) - $300

Paul Baranay (07) - $47

Meeghan Miller (07) - $300

Grand Total = $2619

(I believe that the Academy grants $5000 in the entire state – meaning Marian students received more than half the available funds!)

November 13, 2006 - On Monday, November 13^th, the members of Marian’s Advanced Research class left the parking lot at 3:30 am to head for Indiana University, Bloomington, to participate in the Indiana Junior Academy of Science competition. Mark Fraser and Melissa Baranay participated in the Science Olympiad Road Scholar event. Deanna Lind’s and Emily Cook’s combined scores on the Problem Solving exam earned a third place for Marian. Paul Baranay took third place in the issues presentation with his discussion of coal vs. nuclear power. Melissa Baranay, Paul Baranay and Sara Niedbalski were chosen as three of the top 12 researchers in the state, with Sara taking first place, receiving a $1000 scholarship from the Hoosier Association of Science Teachers, Inc. Sara and Paul were also chosen as two of the top 10 Outstanding Junior Scientists in the state, with Paul placing 3^rd and Sara placing first again, receiving another $1000 scholarship from the Indiana Academy of Science. Everyone’s participation earned Marian the Most Outstanding School first place award. Additional attendees were: Eric Anderson, Emily Blanche, Ellen Eide, Molly Firth, Lauren Hodge, Matt Mancini, Matt Riesbeck, and Colin Van Es.

October 20, 2006 - I am pleased to announce that senior Paul Baranay has been selected as semi-finalist in the Siemens Competition.

The Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology recognizes remarkable talent early on, fostering individual growth for high school students who are willing to challenge themselves through science research. Through this competition, students have an opportunity to achieve national recognition for science research projects that they complete in high school. It is administered by the College Board and funded by the Siemens Foundation.

Paul was one of seven chosen in the state of Indiana.

September 11, 2006 - Five Marian High School students have been selected to compete in the Indiana Science Talent Search which will be held on October 27-28 at Indiana University, Kokomo. These students applied in June of last year, and were selected by a team of university professors from around the state. Only 12 students in the state are selected for this competition. They will be competing for scholarships, and a chance to continue competing at the American Junior Academy of Science competition to be held in San Francisco in February.

The five students are: Paul Baranay, Emily Cook, Deanna Lind, Sara Niedbalski Jamie Scott

May 16, 2006 - I am very proud to announce the accomplishments of Marian junior, Sara Niedbalski. Sara was chosen as an alternate at the Notre Dame regional science fair which allowed her to compete at the Hoosier Science and Engineering Fair. There she was awarded a spot to attend and compete at the INTEL International Science and Engineering Fair in Indianapolis this past week.
Sara's project, "The Influence of Reference Power on Calorimetrically Determined Thermodynamic Parameters", was one of 31 Indiana projects, and one of close to 1400 projects from 47 countries at the International Fair.
She received:
Honorable Mention from the American Chemical Society (subscription to "ChemMatters" magazine)
$8000 Scholarship from the Office of Naval Research on behalf of the United States Navy and Marine Corps
$5000 renewable scholarship to Indiana University (total award: $20,000)
$12,000 renewable scholarship to Marian College (IN) (total award: $48,000)
Fourth Place Grand Award in Chemistry ($500)

In addition to these awards, Sara was notable for being the ONLY Indiana student to win 5 awards (the highest number of awards given to an Indiana student). She was the first Indiana student to be called up for an award at each of the three award ceremonies. Also, she was one of only 5 Indiana students to receive a Grand Award placement.

April 5, 2006 - On Saturday, April 1, 2006, Senior Erin Hendricks and Junior Sara Niedbalski competed in the Hoosier Science and Engineering Fair at DePauw University.

March 30, 2006 - The Marian Envirothon team advanced to state competition yesterday. The five team members will be gone the whole day on April 26. These students are Emily Cook, Elizabeth Johnston, Sara Niedbalski, Terri Rensberger, and Steve Shlakman.

March 28, 2006 - On March 10, 2006, the Indiana Junior Science and Humanities Symposium invited 23 Marian students to participate in this year's 3-day symposium. All students participated in the brand new poster competition, with senior Michael Chartier taking first place and winning $100. Junior Liz Marzotto won 5th place in the poster competition. The main focus of the Symposium is a Power Point Presentation competition. This year, junior Paul Baranay won 3rd place (the highest any Marian student has placed at Symposium to date), winning $1000 and a trip to the National Symposium in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in April. Junior Jamie Canter won 6th place in the presentation competition. Other Marian presenters were: senior Maureen Pendergast, senior Jayme O'Hara, junior Elizabeth Johnston, junior Emily Cook, junior Melissa Baranay, and senior Michael Chartier.

Last Updated: April 04, 2008
Contact Webmaster
for Questions, Comments, or Suggestions