Fryeburg Academy Students Win 2nd Place at the 73rd Maine State Science Fair

On Saturday, March 23, senior Antonina "Tonia"  Zakorchemna and junior Artem Laptiev — both international resident students from Ukraine — participated in the 73rd Maine State Science Fair at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME. The annual fair is organized by the Jackson Laboratory and the Reach Program—a program of the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance.
 
The students’ project was the design of a braille e-reader and an Android app powered by Google Assistant: “We competed in the engineering and mechanics category with our project titled, “Developing a Low-Cost Braille Electronic Reader for the Blind,” says Tonia Zakorchemna ‘19. “Current braille e-readers are extremely expensive due to the specialized piezoelectric crystals used during production.  This makes e-readers unaffordable for the majority of customers in need. Artem and I used a new alternative technology called ‘stepper motors’ to build a functional braille e-reader prototype that maintained the same efficiency but reduced the cost of the hardware dramatically.”

Out of over 200 teams who entered, representing 50 different schools from both public and private institutions in grades 9-12, Zakorchemna and Laptiev placed 2nd place overall as well as capturing 2nd place in the engineering category. It was also the Academy's first appearance at the fair in over two decades, earning Fryeburg Academy a Reach Award that is given to newly participating schools for outstanding entry.

The idea for the prototype initially began last summer during a ‘makeathon’ event the two students attended, and the inspiration for the prototype came from a blind friend back in Ukraine. “We have a blind friend who told us a lot about the issues the blind are faced with in education and literacy,” continues Zakorchemna. “Artem and I had the idea to try and solve some of those issues and brainstormed the idea to design the prototype.”

Zakorchemna and Laptev's 2nd place win comes with an invitation for them and their science teacher and project mentor, James Wauer, for an all-expense paid trip to the 2019 International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix on May 12-19—one of the world’s largest international pre-college science competitions.

“Their success is the product of a great deal of hard work and a lot of lost sleep," concludes science teacher and mentor James Wauer. “I couldn't be prouder of what they have accomplished.”
 
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List of 20 news stories.

  • Fryeburg Academy Fall 2023-24 Honors/High Honors Roll Recipients Named

    We are pleased to announce the following students who have earned academic recognition at Fryeburg Academy for the Fall of 2023-24:

    HONORS
    Grade 12: (Honors)
    Charlotte Adamus
    Vittoria Bernardini
    Natalie Berry
    Dom Bond
    Jordin Booker
    Owen Burford
    Tori Butters
    Jilyan Byrne
    Lorenzo Catana Vallemani
    Jonah Densmore
    Vitoria Do Espirito Santo Teixeira
    Elle Dooley
    Austin Dorner
    Deniz Eroglu
    Manu Fandos Martinez
    Aidan Flanigan
    Amber Gagnon
    Mia Grandchamp
    Gal Hanan
    Emily Hoosier
    Noah Jacobs
    Emma Keaten
    David Kim
    Joey Kim
    Kardelen Lacinok
    Helena Landry
    Margherita Lassini
    Leo Lee
    Celine Lee
    Ana Maillett
    Moss Marques
    Caroline Masterman
    Asher McKenney
    Ryan Meade
    Natalia Millan Arenas
    Mina Milosevic
    Tommy Morini
    Tasia Nason
    Rachel Pizzo
    Grace Porcaro
    Abby Pratt
    Ashe Rabideau
    Winter Raymond
    Dustin Rhoda
    Gideon Richard
    Leah Rokes
    Margherita Rossi
    Gunnar Saunders
    Louie Shin
    Lamar Smith
    Hunter Tripp
    Tanner Tripp
    Gabby Udoto
    Logan Walton
    Kara Willette
    Connor Williams
    Mary Wing
    Kevin Zhou
    Read More
  • Academy Students Earn Silver and Bronze at the National FFA Convention

    From October 31 through November 3, five members of the Academy's FFA Chapter (Future Farmers of America) and faculty member Jennifer Solter Jones attended the National FFA Convention held in Indianapolis, Indiana. 
    Read More
  • FA's Falls Sports Assembly Honors Student-Athletes

    On Thursday, November 16th, Fryeburg Academy celebrated the fall sports season with its annual fall sports awards assembly held in the Leura Hill Eastman Performing Arts Center. The following student-athletes were recognized for their outstanding performance during the fall 2023-24 season:
     
    Read More
  • 55th Head of School, Joseph Manning, addresses the Fryeburg Academy community during his Installation Ceremony on Friday, November 3rd.

    Joseph R. Manning Installed as the Academy's 55th Head of School

    Fryeburg Academy and the Board of Trustees announce the installation of Joseph R. Manning as the Academy’s 55th head of school. The Installation Ceremony was held on Friday, November 3, 2023, with members of the Fryeburg Academy community, the Board of Trustees, and former head of school Erin P. Mayo in attendance as a guest speaker. Manning steps into this new leadership role during the school’s 232nd year, following a long-tenured and successful career at the Academy spanning twenty years of service. 
    Read More
  • Seniors Jiwon Choi and Tyler Bartick dislpay their Merit Scholar Letter of Commendation with Head of School Joseph Manning at the all-school assembly.

    FA Students Earn Letters of Commendation in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program

    Fryeburg Academy seniors Tyler Bartick and Jiwon Choi have earned Letters of Commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Program (NMSC) for their performance on the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®).
    Read More
  • May Shin '23 (middle) holds the finalist award certificate to compete at the international science fair in May with her partner Jiwon Choi '24.

    Fryeburg Academy Students Place 1st and 2nd at the Maine State Science Fair

    Fryeburg Academy is pleased to announce that three Academy students were recognized for their outstanding science projects on Saturday, April 1st, at the Maine State Science Fair held at the University of Maine Orno.  May Shin ‘23 and Jiwon Choi ‘24 took first place in the Plant Sciences (Growth & Development) category out of ten submissions with their project entitled “The Effects of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and Mushroom Substrate on the Plant Growth and Soil Characteristics for PE Microplastics-Contaminated Soil.” The pair studied the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizae and mushroom substrate on plant growth in soils that are contaminated with microplastics.
    Read More
  • James St. Pierre

    FA Faculty Member Named as DOE’s Inaugural Class of Teacher Leader Fellows

    Fryeburg Academy is pleased to announce that faculty member James St. Pierre was among five Maine educators named to the prestigious Department of Education’s Inaugural Class of Teacher Leader Fellows. “Being a teacher leader means connecting and helping others connect. It means gathering the ideas and experiences of the teachers in the state and sharing them in manageable, practical, and efficient ways. We have such a great array of professionals whose knowledge can elevate all students, so to be one of the leaders bringing them together is a privilege,” says St. Pierre
    Read More
  • FA's Model UN Attends MUN Conference in New York

    FA's Model UN Team took its second-ever trip to New York City and the National High School MUN conference from March 9-13. The conference was held at the Midtown Manhattan Hilton blocks from the UN building. As representatives of Germany this year, our team was given the unique opportunity to visit the German Mission to the UN, where German diplomat, Hoger, answered our questions about global trade, green energy, and Russia's war on Ukraine. We also spent Saturday morning in the General Assembly of the UN seats, an unforgettable moment, listening to a young Iraqi-American man talk about his struggle to identify with both his birth home and his adopted home.
    Read More
  • Fryeburg Academy Announces 28 New Inductees to the B.W. Tinker Chapter of the National Honor Society

    We are pleased to announce that Fryeburg Academy inducted 28 new inductees to the B.W. Tinker Chapter of the National  Honor Society on Monday, March 20th. Membership in the National Honor Society is among the highest honors that can be awarded to a high school student. The B.W. Tinker Chapter of NHS works diligently to bring the accomplishments of outstanding students to the attention of parents, teachers, peers, and the community. And the chapter, along with the more than 15,000 chapters in schools across the nation, strive to give practical meaning to the Society's standards of scholarship, leadership, service, and character selection. Students are not inducted simply because of a high academic average, but rather recognized for excelling in all of these areas.
    Read More
  • 3-Star Jacket Recipients (earned three varsity letters)

    Winter Sports Assembly Awards 2023

    On Thursday, March 16th, Fryeburg Academy celebrated the sports season with its annual winter sports awards assembly held in the Leura Hill Eastman Performing Arts Center. The following student-athletes were recognized for their outstanding performance during the winter 2022-23 season:

    Individual Team Awards
    Alpine- Sam Winterbottom '23, Coaches Award
    Clara Yager '26, Most Improved
    Hogan Bemis '23, Coaches Award
    Joshua Wake '23, Most Improved

    Boy's Basketball- Camden Johnson, Coaches Award
    Gunnar Saunders '24, MVP

    Girls' Basketball -Sydney Shaw, MVP
    Carla Pintor Gali '24, Coaches Award

    Ice Hockey- Peyton McMurtray, Adversity Award
    Caleb Micklon '23, MVP

    Indoor Track -Zack Emery, Coaches Award
    Emily Chaine '24, Coaches Award

    Nordic- Owen Reinbach '25, Coaches Award

    Wrestling- Gabe McKenney '23, The Athlete
    Eliya Deri '24, Heart

    All-Academic Team (seniors with a GPA of 3.2 or higher)
    David Bellis-Bennett, Alpine
    Kacey-Jane Clark, Nordic
    Owen Galligan, Ice Hockey
    Myles Garland, Ice Hockey
    Andrew Irwin, Nordic
    Elsie Leonard, Alpine
    Gabe McKenney, Wrestling
    Caleb Micklon, Ice Hockey
    Grace Murley, Alpine
    Ally Southwick, Girls' Basketball
    Isaac Twombly-Wiser, Nordic
    Samantha Winterbottom, Alpine

    All-WMC Conference Athletes
    Gunnar Saunders '23, Boys' Basketball
    Sydney Shaw '24, Girls' Basketball
    Mina Milosevic '24, Girls' Basketball
    Hogan Bemis '23, Alpine
    Holden Edenbach '25, Alpine
    Chandler Thorne '25, Alpine
    Jacob Adams '23, Indoor Track and Field

    3-Star Jacket Recipients (earned three varsity letters)
    Corbin Blake'23
    Elsie Leonard'23
    Emerson Hall '24
    Sydney Shaw '24
    Russell Carbonaro '25
    Jagger Helwig '25
    Chandler Thorne '25
  •  Team captain Yeo Bondar ‘23 and Chloe Sartory ‘23 hold their first-place banner and Robotics Skills Award.

    FA Robotics Earns Spot at the VEX World Championships

    Fryeburg Academy is pleased to announce that its robotics team named 20005B "Free Cheese" earned a coveted spot at the VEX World Championships, which will be held in Dallas, Texas, on April 25-27th.
    Read More
  • FA Becomes the First FFA Chapter Member in Western Maine

    Fryeburg Academy is pleased to announce it has joined the National Future Farmers of America Organization (FFA) as an initiative to grow its agricultural programming. “After several months of research, it was important to me to bring FFA to Fryeburg because it will open up more opportunities for our students involved in agriculture education here,” says Jennifer Solter-Jones, FA’s science instructor and school farm manager. “Whether it be through leadership development, new learning opportunities, or a chance to serve our community, this organization directly ties in with what we are trying to do with our program, so it is a natural fit to have our own chapter.”

    Read More
  • FA Announces Fall 2022-23 Semester I Honor/High Honor Roll

    We are pleased to announce students who have earned the academic distinction of Honors and High Honors for Semester I in the fall of 2022-23:

    Grade 9-Honors
    Allain, Alexander
    Artigau Aleu, Francesc
    Barnaby, Tucker
    Bellamy, Kiley
    Bowen, Adger
    Boyd, Cody
    Brown, Jordan
    Canfield, Tyler
    Clement, Megan
    Drew, Dilen
    Drew, George
    Eveleth, Jacob
    Guthro, Thomas
    Han, Holym
    Hayes, Jared
    Iacozili, Merrik
    Kubichko, Jaxson
    Madrazo Zertuche, Eduardo
    Massey, Richard
    McBride, Rylan
    Meier, Andrew
    Mitchell, Gaige
    Moser, Kaelan
    Patino Aguayo, Jeronimo
    Pierce, Noah
    Santos, Sharis
    Snow, Caleb
    Spofford, Connor
    Spofford, Haley
    Twigg-Smith, William



     
    Read More
  • All-Conference Team     

    FA's Fall Sports Assembly Honors Student-Athletes

    On Wednesday, November 16th, Fryeburg Academy celebrated the fall sports season with its annual fall sports awards assembly held in the Leura Hill Eastman Performing Arts Center. The following student-athletes were recognized for their outstanding performance during the fall 2022-23 season:
    Read More
  • Joseph R. Manning

    Joseph R. Manning Appointed as Fryeburg Academy’s Next Head of School

    FRYEBURG, ME, OCTOBER 26, 2022— Fryeburg Academy’s Board of Trustees is very pleased and excited to announce that Joseph R. Manning has been appointed as the Academy’s next Head of School. The Trustees' unanimous decision resulted from a rigorous search process by the Board’s Search Committee, which worked closely with internationally renowned search firm Carney Sandoe and Associates, based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Committee and consultants conducted a stakeholder survey, met on campus with over sixty stakeholder groups, authored a report on the next Head of School’s necessary traits, and engaged with Manning through extensive interviews. 

    Read More
  • Erin P. Mayo Appointed as Next Head of School at Doane Academy

    The Board of Trustees of Doane Academy announce that Erin Pike Mayo will become the next Head of School, on July 1, 2023, the start of Doane Academy’s 187th year.
    Read More
  • Fryeburg Academy’s Goldberg Gallery Presents Visual Artist Marsha Carlin

    The Goldberg Gallery will host an art installation of Marsha Carlin’s work in October and November. “Adaptive reuse is an approach to life and art that I learned from my parents, who were both children of The Depression. Saving and reusing string, baby food jars to hold nails and screws, and making doll houses from discarded wood scraps eventually influenced my creative process,” says Carlin. “I purposely use nontraditional and repurposed materials to create art, clothing, and accessories.” 
    Read More
  • May Ki-ok “May” Shin (pictured left) and  Kyungyoon “Yuna” Lee

    Fryeburg Academy Students Among Top Performers in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program

    Fryeburg Academy is pleased to announce that May Ki-ok “May” Shin has been named a Semifinalist in the
    National Merit Scholarship Program, and Kyungyoon “Yuna” Lee has been named a Commended Student. High school juniors entered the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2021 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®). According to the College Board, more than 2 million students took the PSAT in 2021; both young women placed among the top 50,000 takers of this test.
    Read More
  • USDA Awards over $70 Million in Grants, Maine’s Fryeburg Academy among awardees

    Boston, MA, July 26, 2022 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it is awarding more than $10 million in Farm to School Grants to 123 projects across the country. Additionally, for the first time, the department is empowering states with $60 million in non-competitive grants to develop stronger and sustainable Farm to School programs over the next four years. Both actions will help more kids nationwide eat healthy, homegrown foods.
    Read More
  • FA Celebrates Faculty Years of Service

    On June 8, 2022, the Academy recognized faculty and staff for their years of service at the end-of-year staff meeting held in the Leura Hill Eastman Performing Arts Center.  Congratulations to the following faculty/staff who were recognized:

    Read More
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Fryeburg Academy is an independent boarding and day school, serving grades 9-12 and postgraduate. We invite you to explore our site and learn how students from around the globe find their place in the world through our exceptional academic, art, and athletic programs.