Islander wins Communicator of Excellence award
Aida Kouyoumjian, a Mercer Island resident, won first place in the 2007 Communicator of Excellence Contest of the Washington Press Association for an opinion article titled “Iraq may need what it once had — a constitutional monarchy,” recently published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The winners were announced last month.
Oh! Chocolate is sweet pick
The Bellevue Downtown Association included Bellevue’s Oh! Chocolate on its 2008 Haute Picks list. The chocolate shop was named as the “Best Sweet Tooth Fix.”
Musician honored
Islander Samantha Leck won first place in the 2008 American College of Musicians International Composition Contest with her piano composition, “Anxiety.” Her piece was selected from hundreds of entries.
Leck lives on Mercer Island and is a high school junior at Holy Names Academy in Seattle. She studies piano composition under the direction of Sharon VanValin.
Steinitz presents research
Lafayette College senior Lauren Steinitz, the daughter of Edgar and Gail Steinitz of Mercer Island, presented research at the 19th annual Omicron Delta Epsilon undergraduate economics and business conference at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa., on April 18.
Steinitz, a double-major in psychology and economics and business at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., presented her honors thesis on the effects of risky behavior on academic achievement as an indicator of later-life success.
In addition to presenting her own research at the conference, Steinitz served as a discussant, providing constructive criticism to other authors.
To complete her research, Steinitz worked closely with faculty members through Lafayette College’s honors program.
Student wins award in Holocaust Remembrance Contest
Kira Weiner, 14, of Mercer Island, a student at the Jewish Day School in Bellevue, won the honorable mention award in the annual Jacob Friedman Holocaust Writing and Art Contest sponsored by the Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center. The topic of the contest this year was: What can we learn from Holocaust survivors?
Weiner’s essay was selected from among 800 entries and received recognition during the center’s commemoration of Yom Hashoah (Day of Holocaust Remembrance) on May 4 on Mercer Island. Her winning entry will be posted on the Holocaust Center’s Web site, www.wsherc.org.
The Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing educational resources to students, teachers and community groups who want to include Holocaust studies into their curricula. Currently, the Center is expanding its services to include studies of contemporary genocide such as the crisis in Darfur, Sudan. The Center provides speakers for classes and community groups through its Speakers Bureau of Holocaust survivors.
Through these creative means, students reflect on the genocide of the Holocaust and understand how these studies affect their everyday lives.
This is the first year when the contest has accepted art entries. Three winning entries were chosen from grades 5-8 and three from grades 9-12. In total, 12 students will be recognized for their writing and art entries from all across Washington state.
For more information, go to www.wsherc.org.
