Three Westport middle school students will be recognized as writers Wednesday at the University of Connecticut’s (UConn) Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts in Storrs, school officials announced today.

The students’ writing was chosen from more than 1,700 entries for recognition in the 28th annual Connecticut Student Writers contest sponsored by UConn’s English Department..

Abigail Baldwin of Coleytown Elementary School is the winner of the fifth grade fiction division for her story “It Will be Okay.” Her teacher is Ed Wolf.

Bedford Middle School seventh grader Caroline Fording was awarded an honorable mention in fiction for her story “Seeing Through the Storm.” Her teacher is Lorien Hallama.

Lila Wells of Westport, a freshman at Greens Farms Academy, has been named a delegate to the Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders (CFSTL) in Lowell, Mass. that runs from June 29 through July 1.

Lila Wells: going to Massachusetts meeting. Contributed photo

The Congress is an honors-only program for high school students who are passionate about science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM), the organization said.

According to the CFSTL, the weekend event is designed to “honor, inspire, motivate and direct the top students in the country who aspire to be scientists and technologists, to stay true to their dream and, after the event, to provide a path, plan and resources to help them reach their goal.”

Lila was nominated to represent Connecticut by the winner of the first Google Science Fair, Shree Bose, academic director of the National Academy of Future Scientists and Technologists.

Four Westport students won four awards over the weekend in a competition involving their underwater remotely operated vehicle, known as a ROV. The, team, called Curiodyssea, competed in the Ranger Division of the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) New England Regionals in Sandwich, Mass. They are the first Westporters to compete in the competition, which challenges students from all over the world to design and build ROVs to tackle simulated missions under water such as capping oil wells and measuring ice thickness. The Westporters won second place overall, first technical report, first poster display, and rookie of the year. Pictured with their ROV (left) are Nicholas Durkin, 15, (Staples High School freshman) Nathan Wang, 14, (Coleytown Middle School eighth grader), John McNab, 15, and Daniel Westphal, 14 (both Staples freshmen.) Curiodyssea received support from the Westport Library, Staples High School, and the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

William McKersie:  taking over from Westport-bound super. Contributed photo

The Town of Weston Board of Education Thursday night appointed Greenwich Schools Superintendent William S. McKersie as the district’s next superintendent of schools.

He succeeds Colleen Palmer who is leaving for the superintendent’s job in Westport. She will replace Superintendent of Schools Elliott Landon, who is retiring next month after 17 years.

McKersie has led the Greenwich schools since 2012.

He takes over a district with 2,400 students compared to almost 9,000 in Greenwich. Both districts rank as among the top districts in the state in national rankings.

By James Lomuscio

Following school board Vice Chairwoman Jeannie Smith’s spirited budget presentation about educational excellence and fiscal responsibility, the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) tonight unanimously approved the Board of Education’s $113,128,166 operating budget for 2016-17.

The budget represents a 1.29 percent increase over the current year, the lowest increase since the first year of the recession, said Smith.

During her presentation, Smith also praised Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon, who is retiring in June after 17 years. This was his last budget.

“Elliott has done such an outstanding job over the past 17 years,” said Smith. “He has been the leader of leaders.”

James Gikas: Alexander the Great. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

James Gikas 14, a ninth grader at Staples High School, performed his original portrayal of Alexander the Great at Saturday’s state National History Day competition at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain.

He won second place in the category of Senior Individual Performance, which means he is going to the national competition at the University of Maryland in June.

This will be James’s second time going to the national competition.

He went last year for his performance as Winston Churchill.

James was among six Westport students winning awards at the competition.

By James Lomuscio

Doing right by the environment while saving energy costs over the long run was the thrust of an Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) Committee report to the Board of Education tonight—and the board seemed pleased.

The report presented by First Selectman Jim Marpe and EPC Committee member Iain Bruce showed an $8.35 million total cost for the Westport’s eight schools and and four municipal buildings, with energy cost savings estimated at $8.7 million over 10 years.

The total projected costs for the schools, which comprise the lion’s share of the project, would be $7.57 million with $716,689 in energy savings the first year.

The investment grade audit report was prepared by the outside consultant NORESCO, the firm that the year-old EPC Committee hired after a competitive bid.

U.S. News & World Report (USN&WR) has released its top public high schools list nationwide and Westport’s Staples High School is ranked 14th among 25 Connecticut high schools on the list. Nationally, Staples is No. 574. 

Last year, Staples came in No. 7 in Connecticut in the US&NWR rankings. Nationally it was No. 329. (See WestportNow May 13, 2015)

The magazine cited Staples for its 99 percent graduation rate, a student-teacher ratio of 12:1 and a college readiness score of 53.1. See the USNWR Staples profile here. Its methodology is here.

Staples appeared to score lower on the USN&WR study based on its college readiness score which cited 56 percent taking Advanced Placement (AP) tests and 52 percent passing.

At Greens Farms Academy today, 630 Connecticut students and teachers gathered for a conference sponsored by the Committee on Diversity in Independent Schools. Entitled “Pieces of the Puzzle: More than Identity,” the day was divided into workshops on diversity issues facilitated by students. Students were also entertained in GFA’s new Performing Arts Center by music, talks, and spoken word poetry. GFA sophomore, Ililta Pina of Weston (above) sings “A Change is Gonna Come” to open the conference. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Conttributed photo