DRSS Class of 2017 by the Numbers

May 11, 2017 - Students graduating from the Dayton Regional STEM School were honored at Senior Awards Night Thursday evening. Of the 74 seniors in the Class of 2017, 71 are going on to a four-year college, two are joining the military full-time (with three additional students joining the reserves or ROTC), and one is going on to a trade school.

The students plan to attend the following universities:
1 – Baldwin Wallace
1 – Kent State University
1 – Miami University
2 – Ohio State University
2 – Ohio University
12 – Sinclair
6 – University of Cincinnati
6 – University of Dayton
1 – Wittenberg University
26 – Wright State University
13 – Attending out-of-state schools

As of today, students have been awarded a total of $5,095,080 in scholarship dollars, or an average of $68,852 per student!

Perhaps most impressively, 59 students (nearly 80%) have indicated that they will be pursuing a STEM field after graduating from DRSS.

We would also like to congratulate our Valedictorian, Joel Baker, and Salutatorian, Sophia Lucas, on their outstanding achievements, as well as all of our STEM Scholars: Marc Ayala, Fatima Boumahchad, and Katie Marker, all of whom achieved the highest possible GPA during their time at DRSS and chose to participate in the Val/Sal selection process.

Finally, congratulations to our Distinguished Scholars, each of whom maintained a cumulative 3.9 GPA during their time at DRSS: Hiba Ahmad, Dena Back, Kayla Cindric, Lauren Drewing, Ray Hampton, Callie Heiligenberg, Madeline Kelly, Edward Love II, Quan Nguyen, Vyshnavi Ramini, and Melonie Sherman.

We are proud to recognize all of our graduating students at the Dayton Masonic Temple on May 27, 2017 at 1PM.

Saving People, One Ounce at a Time

Chloe Johnson         

May 8, 2017 - Each year, the Dayton Regional STEM School (DRSS) Key Club organizes a blood drive to donate to the Community Blood Center (CBC). This year, the blood drive was held Wednesday, May 3. According to Donna Teuscher, a Donor Relations, Account Representative at CBC, “The Community Blood Center is the community’s blood bank, we serve 15 counties. We take care of 25 local hospitals. The Community Blood Center needs 350 people to donate blood each day in order to maintain local hospital blood supply.” 

Furthermore, hospitals schedule surgeries that require the blood that is received from the blood drives. For instance, transplants require 150 pints of blood. Across the counties, there are 226 high school blood drives held per year. Mrs. Teuscher stated, “People aged 16-25 are the fasting growing population of blood donors.”

Students started preparing for their donation on Sunday. They were instructed to drink water that was equivalent to half of their body weight. If students didn’t drink water, it could have taken up to 20 minutes for them to donate. However, if they chose to drink water, the amount of time it took them to donate was cut in half (5 to 10 minutes). Also, they were told not to ingest sugar and caffeine because it dehydrated them, and it raised their pulse. Students needed to have a pulse under 100 to donate. The last step in preparation was to eat a high protein breakfast the morning of the donation.

After donating, the students started restoring their loss of sugar by eating cookies and drinking juice. In one donation, students lost 650 calories and 1 pound. Students were not allowed to wear hoodies because after their donation, the heart had to work harder to restore the lost blood. Also, the students could not participate in any physical activity. They had just saved a life, so the students were told to chill. 

According to Chris Pickle, the Community Blood Center Education Specialist to schools, “Your blood matters, yes it does.” The blood is actually separated to be used in different ways. Red blood cells can be used in many different procedures including cancer treatment. In plasma, there are many sugars, so it can help burning victims and infants who are very sick. Mrs. Teuscher stated, “The students who donate blood are true heroes. Their act of generosity will potentially save up to 3 lives.”

In conclusion, many DRSS students have literally saved a life. For instance, Starr, a senior, donated blood on the day of the blood drive. She stated, “It just feels good mentally that someone could use my blood. I feel like it will do more good.” Another student who donated their blood was Keshawn, the president of Key Club (the club that runs the blood drive), stated, “I am happy I gave blood because it is helping other people and I enjoy giving blood. I hope my blood goes to someone that really needs it.” 

When both students were asked if they would do it again, they both said yes. Starr added, “I think that if you are debating whether or not to give blood, you should do it.” Overall, the blood drive was a huge success. In addition, Mrs. Teuscher stated, “There is no substitute for blood.  Patients have to have it to live. Blood comes from blood donors. Each donation has the potential to save three lives. When you donate blood, you are saving lives here in your community. It does not get any bigger than this.”

DRSS/WSU Graduate Josh Jordan Heads West

Josh visits with former math teacher and mentor, Brian Polk, on a recent visit to DRSS.

This summer, many DRSS graduates from our first graduating class (the Class of 2013) are graduating (or have graduated from) college. One of those students is Josh Jordan, who is graduating from Wright State University with a double major in Mathematics and Physics. Recently, an email that went out within the WSU College of Science and Mathematics caught the attention of. Dr. David Goldstein, DRSS Board of Trustees President and WSU Biology Department Chair, who noted the significance, explaining that, "though he was not ultimately selected as the CoSM Top Scholar, Josh Jordan was nominated as Top Scholar by two different depts.; I don’t know if that has ever happened before.”

Josh’s plans after graduation are impressive, to say the least. He was accepted by the University of California, Irvine, to go into their Ph.D. program, where he will study geometric analysis. Josh explains that geometric analysis “involves different ways of looking at solutions to equations,” while geometric analysis "lets you go in and solve problems in different ways.” His research will focus on “looking into surfaces that will minimize energy.” The program is estimated to take five years to complete, after which he will graduate with his master’s and his doctorate. “After that, I would like to go into academia, perhaps becoming a professor some day,” he explains.

Josh was an active member of the Society of Physics Students at WSU, where he helped do outreach for the Physics Department, including at DRSS. He was also a member of the Dean’s Circle for the College of Science and Mathematics, where he did lots of outreach and acted as a liaison for his fellow students.

Josh is grateful for his time at DRSS and WSU. “The department chairs are really cool. Dr. Deibel (Physics Dept. Chair) and Dr. Sahin (Mathematics & Stats Chair) are both really supportive. You can really feel that they want you to succeed, which is something I’ve really appreciated,” he explains.

Similarly, Josh remembers his time at DRSS fondly, and credits it for his success in college. “The thing I always explain to people [about my time at DRSS] is that Mr. Polk’s Calculus class covered the entire first semester of WSU calculus and half of the next one, so I was able to skip Calc I and go directly into Calc II and already know what we were doing, so I was able to get ahead, which made my physics classes a lot easier. As soon as you know the math, you can just sit back and understand the physics, which has helped me so much.”

When asked what advice he has for current students, Josh encourages them to stay curious. “Curiosity is the thing that drives you to do problems outside of class,” he believes. “I was never the kind of person who wanted to do something for the grade, so curiosity makes you think about problems outside of class and wonder why things work one way and don’t work another way.” Josh credits his time at DRSS for fostering his natural curiosity.

Josh also has some practical advice. “Make personal connections with your teachers and professors, because lots of times they’ve been through what you have or have seen people who have been through the same thing, and they can have your back if you’re struggling in a class or going through something difficult."

Josh has many great memories about his time at DRSS, and not all are math related. “I really liked Creative Writing with Ms. Reid, because I felt like we made a personal connection. I was doing slam poetry a while ago and sent her and Ms. Whitman-Allen the first draft of a poem I had written and they provided some feedback, and people really loved it,” he recalls. “That grew out of the personal connections we made in Multi-Media and Creative Writing, and they remain supportive of me today, which I really appreciate.”

“I also always would always find an excuse to talk to Mr. Polk while I was here dropping off my brother,” he admitted.” “He would always give me advice on which classes I should take the following semester."

We wish Josh (and all our graduates) the best of luck in the next chapter of their lives!

DRSS Students Recognized at Kettering Rotary

Josh Rugwiza, Joel Baker, and Pooja Shirahatti were honored at the Kettering Rotary for their leadership, academics, and outstanding service achievements.

Kettering, OH - On Wednesday, May 5, 2017, three DRSS students were recognized for their academic achievements, leadership, and dedication to service. They were recognized alongside other students from Kettering High School and Altar by members of the Kettering Rotary.

DRSS senior and Class of 2017 Valedictorian, Joel Baker, received the Service Above Self Award. Joel serves as the service director for the National Honor Society at DRSS and is a leader in his church's youth group. Next year, he will be attending Clavin College, where he will triple major in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, and Theology.

The prize comes with a $250 reward, which is matched by a $250 donation to Joel's non-profit of choice. Joel selected Back2Back Ministries, an international Christian non-profit organization dedicated to being a voice for orphans. Joel has participated in multiple missions trips to orphanages sponsored by Back2Back Ministries already and looks forward to doing more work for them in the future. After graduating from Calvin, he later hopes to go on to graduate school and earn a dual masters’ degrees in Business and Materials Engineering.

Joshua Rugwiza was recognized with the Overcoming Adversity Award, which was accompanied by a $500 cash prize. Josh is a senior at the Dayton Regional STEM School this year and is a member of both the National Honors Society as well as the Junior Council on World Affairs.

Joshua arrived in the United States four years ago; but before that he had lived in three different African countries, including The Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Kenya. Josh speaks four different languages and is currently on a path to minor in Chinese. He was selected for the award, in part, because he came to the country knowing only how to say "How are you?" in English as a new 8th grade student. Now, only four years later, Josh speaks English fluently and plans to go on to pursue a degree in medicine after going to Wright State University to major in Biology.



The third student recognized was Pooja Shirahatti. Pooja received the Leadership Award, which recognizes students who demonstrate leadership qualities at an early age. Pooja is a junior and joined the school in her 8th grade year after moving to the United States from India. At school, she is involved and helps lead many student initiatives and is involved with Key Club, Yearbook, Junior Council on World Affairs, National Honor Society, a local Refugee Resettlement program, and SAT Club. She also enjoys performing dances at the India Club of Dayton.

Pooja's award was accompanied by a scholarship to attend a local leadership training camp with other local area students, which Pooja also presented on at today's meeting. After graduation, she plans to apply to Wright State University for her undergrad. She aspires to become a surgeon in the future, and her dream medical school is Johns Hopkins.


Congratulations to all of our students on being recognized for their outstanding achievements!