Mustang Monthly

IHS CyberPatriots Win State Title For Fourth Time

The Immaculate High School CyberPatriots recently placed first in the Platinum Division in the Connecticut Regional National Youth Cyber Defense Competition sponsored by the National Cyber Education Program. This is the fourth time that the team won the State competition, having won the State title in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Additionally, a second IHS CyberPatriots team placed third in the Gold Division at the State competition. 

Team 1 reached the State competition by placing first in the qualifying round - Platinum Division and then taking first place in the second round. They then competed in the regional competition on January 25 and are awaiting to hear the results. The top 25 teams from the regional round advance to the National Competition. 
“Immaculate High School has a strong STEM program and commitment to students who wish to learn more about technology, engineering and science,” said Dave Cirella, IHS Director of IT and the CyberPatriot's advisor. “This commitment shows in the success of our CyberPatriots, who consistently win important competitions in the area of cybersecurity, a very important need in our modern world. The dedication and hard work of these students is commendable,” he noted. 

Team 1 members are: James Mok ‘20, Logan McAloon ‘21, Kolbe Mosher ‘21, Ethan Goodman ‘21, Kieran Doolabh ‘20 and Aiden Doolabh ‘23.

Team 2 members are: Anish Nanda ‘22, Ricky Lawlor ‘22, Lauren Manning ‘22, Steven Reese ‘22, Perry Ghosh ‘21 and Andrew Riotto ’20. 

CyberPatriots is a program created by the Air Force Association, and its National Youth Cyber Defense Competition puts teams of high school and middle school students in the position of newly hired IT professionals tasked with “finding cybersecurity vulnerabilities within and hardening an IT system while maintaining critical services.” 

Brave Engineers Wins State Title, Again

This is only the second year that Immaculate’s Brave Engineers Team has been in existence, yet it is the second year that they have won the State championship title. 

Under the guidance of advisor Jeanine Antonios, IHS math and engineering teacher, the Brave Engineers won the Real World Design Challenge (RWDC) for Connecticut and is now invited to compete in the RWDC National Competition on April 25 in Washington D.C.

The founder of the Challenge, Ralph K. Coppola, Ed.D., congratulated the IHS Brave Engineers for “demonstrating ability and significant achievement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics” and called the team members “among the best and brightest students in the State and the Nation.”

The Brave Engineers participating in the State RWDC 2020 challenge are: Keelan Doherty ‘20 (project manager/technical lead), David Kallberg ‘20 (theory of operation and design director), Ross Relator ‘20 (lead design engineer), Sarra Darby ‘22 (business case manager), Carolyn Jandura ‘22 (safety manager) and Nikolas Badinelli ’22 (design engineer). The team wishes to thank their mentor Mrs. Ruthanne Szumski from Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Engines.

The Real World Design Challenge is an annual competition run by public and private partnerships, with the goal of setting a solid foundation for the future STEM workforce. It gives high school students the chance to work on real-world engineering challenges using professional science and engineering resources in a virtual environment, while allowing them to apply classroom lessons to real-life challenges found in the working world.

This year, the Brave Engineers tested themselves with the State RWDC 2020 Unmanned Aerial System Challenge: Pilot Package Delivery. This task required participating teams to design a drone within certain constraints to support package delivery in an urban environment following safety guidelines while building a profitable business case.

Anna Flaherty Chosen for Prestigious All-Star Concert

Band student Anna Flaherty ‘22 performed in the prestigious Western Region Music Festival on January 18 sponsored by the CT Music Educators Association and the National Association for Music Education. Prior to the performance, Anna rehearsed with the highly-skilled All-Star Concert Band, a group comprised of 100 musicians and only open to those who score high in an audition. 

Danielle Garcia’s Tap Dancing Team Brings Home the Bronze Medal From World Championship

Danielle Garcia ‘22 and her tap dance team won a bronze medal at the IDO World Tap Dance Championships, the “dance olympics of tap,” in Riesa, Germany in November. This was Danielle’s third time she represented the USA Tap Team, as she first competed at the championships at age 11, and in 2017 she won her first gold medal and earned the title of World Tap Champion in the Junior Small Group category. 

“I’ve been dancing at Seven Star School of Performing Arts in Brewster, New York since the age of three and I began competing at the age of seven,” said Danielle. “I have trained in tap, jazz, ballet, hip-hop and contemporary but it did not take long for me to realize that my dance forte is tap, although I love dancing every style,” she added. For this competition, Danielle performed in a formation category, which is when a large group of dancers create line formations and is one of the hardest categories because the dancers must dance in complete sequence while performing various formations. Her routine was called “Step In Time” and was based off the chimney sweepers from Mary Poppins. 

Grace Tirado Receives Honorable Mention in Scholastic Art Awards Competition

Grace Tirado ‘21 received an Honorable Mention in the CT Regional Scholastic Art Awards competition, the largest juried student art exhibition in the State! Her graphic design artwork “Transportation to Mars” was selected from over 3,000 entries.

Students of the Month

Every month the Recognition Committee asks teachers for nominations for students of the month in a certain subject area(s).The committee uses a blind nomination process to make their final selection based on teachers' responses. For December and January, Grace Tirado ‘21 was named Student of the Month for Computer Science, Gregory Gruerio ‘20 was named Student of the Month for Science and Keli Zavatsky ‘22 was named Student of the Month for Physical Education. 

Grace Tirado ‘21

Grace Tirado ‘21 was chosen as Student of the Month for Computer Science because, in part, she has an exemplary passion for learning, willingly helps others and spends her free periods in the classroom working on the next project or a side project, according to her teacher. 

“Being named Student of the Month is an honor, especially for a class that I am so passionate about. I take the AP Graphics course and it is honestly my favorite subject,” said Grace. “Before attending Immaculate I never knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life after high school, but by taking graphic design and my teacher constantly pushing me to think out of the box I finally realized that I am artistic and very good at it -- I know because of this course that I will be doing something with design whether it be architecture, graphic design or interior design after I graduate,” she added. 

Grace’s artistic talents were recently noted when she received Honorable Mention in the CT Regional Scholastic Art Awards competition, the largest juried student art exhibition in the State. Her graphic design artwork “Transportation to Mars” was selected from over 3,000 entries. She has also designed the postcard for the C.H. Booth library which was delivered to over 5,000 homes.

Grace is also an IHS cheerleader, honor student and tutor at Saint Peter School. “I would tell students considering coming to Immaculate that they should make it their top choice because of how much of a family aspect you get while attending this school - when I get to school I feel at home because all the teachers and staff know who each student is and will always help you no matter what.” she said. “The small class sizes really allow each student to have a unique relationship with their teacher and to really understand the material being taught.”

Congratulations to the other students who were nominated:  Ethan Goodman ‘21 and
Anish Nanda ‘22

Gregory Gruerio ‘20

Gregory Gruerio ‘20 was named Student of the Month for Science. According to his teacher, he always puts out excellent effort, is passionate about learning, always submits original, well-done work, and recognizes his own weak points and thus works harder. He tutors his fellow students and is the president of the IHS National Science Honor Society.

“I feel really honored to be chosen as Student of the Month for Science! To me science has always been my favorite subject. Ever since I was a kid I always had so many questions about the world and about what made things tick. Questions like ‘Why is the sky blue?’ invigorated me to search for answers and pester adults with a million questions,” said Gregory. “At Immaculate we have so many great teachers that love what they do and help guide us students on the right path for these answers,” he added. 

Gregory is also vice president of the National Honor Society, a member of Campus Ministry and the International Club, and he runs on the IHS cross country, indoor track and outdoor track teams. Honors include making Distinguished Honors, receiving the Saint Michael’s College Book Award and the Cross Country Coaches Award. During the summer he volunteers at Danbury Hospital, and hopes to become a physician’s assistant.

“I think the best thing about IHS is that being a smaller sized school allows for a very unique experience. Having a smaller school allows us to build deeper relationships with our fellow classmates and our teachers as well. Being an Immaculate student means that I am now a part of a larger family filled with so many people that are there to support me and that are rooting for my success. It's something special to be surrounded by so many people that care about you and your future,” Gregory said. 

Congratulations to the other students who were nominated: freshman Sophia Font, Angela Pacheco and Grace Soltis; sophomores Kennedi Muller, Arianna Petta and Robin Zifeng Zhan; juniors Aleksandra Box, Zachary Clark, Alexis Demko, Sarah Fields and Grace Garvey; and senior Sean Guiry

Keli Zavatsky ‘22

Keli Zavatsky ‘22 was named Student of the Month for Physical Education. Keli received this recognition because she “always plays by the rules and always plays hard,” according to her teacher. Her effort is always exemplary and she “integrates all of her fellow students into the activity regardless of their abilities, strengths and weaknesses, and clearly has fun while exercising,” her teacher noted. 

“I feel very appreciative of being named Student of the Month for Physical Education. I really enjoy being active and playing games,” Keli said. After school Keli plays soccer and runs track. 

Keli thinks the best thing about being an IHS student is the community.  “I love the Immaculate community. Everyone is very respectful and so great to talk to,” she said. To new students, Keli advises that they shouldn’t be afraid to talk to new people. “Everyone is new and trying to fit in at first, so don’t worry about not having friends because everyone is super nice,” Keli noted. 

Keli is looking forward to attending college after graduation, where she hopes to play soccer.

Congratulations to the other students who were nominated: Aiden Doolabh ‘23,  Billy Murphy ‘22 and Michaela Shovak ‘22