BTHS Nationally Recognized for Finance Education

Biotechnology High School Named to National 100 Best
Personal Finance Education Ranking

We are excited to announce that BTHS earned 7th place on the 2016 100 Best w!se High Schools Teaching Personal Finance national ranking created by Working in Support of Education (w!se), a leading provider of financial education programs.

w!se announced the prestigious ranking on April 11 at a ceremony sponsored by Voya Financial® and hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Our school was ranked because the students at our school scored among the highest in the country on the w!se Financial Literacy Certification Test. The 2016 ranking is based on school achievement in the 2014-15 school year and is available here.

Our school district and state have made financial literacy a priority. Together with w!se, we are empowering our students to take control of their financial futures. By passing the Certification Test, students earn w!se’s Financial Literacy Certification that demonstrates they are graduating with the knowledge and skills that are essential for a life of financial wellbeing. The 2016 video about this highly successful program is available here.

Multicultural Fair 2016

By Emma Mueller 

Biotech takes pride in its diversity, and it always has. The Spanish Honor Society’s annual Multicultural Fair is one of the many ways Biotech celebrates its diversity and culture. On Thursday, April 7th, students set up informational booths, provided hands-on activities, and performed a variety of acts to teach others about their heritage.

The night started at 6:00 with the booths - ways for students and attendees to interact and learn about different cultures. There were a variety of booths, from calligraphy to Bollywood dancing to Challah baking. Other booths included a Russian Nesting Dolls activity, several henna stations, an Asian Heritage Booth by the Asian Heritage Club, and a Current Event Booth by the National Honor Society.

“The performances were amazing. It was a great turnout… It was great to see the different clubs come together to run such a wonderful event!” President of the Spanish Honor Society Kayla Ciok said.

During this time, people could also enjoy a feast of homemade dishes brought by the attendees. There was a large variety of food, as there is every year. And it never fails to be delicious!

At approximately 7:00, the performances began. There were a large variety of acts, all of which were extremely entertaining and educational. Songs were sung in a variety of languages including Hindi, Spanish, Arabic, and Polish. There were several solo/group dances, which included an Irish dance, several Indian dances, and even a cultural fusion dance with Indian, Chinese, Korean, and American steps and songs. Other acts included Chinese Yoyos and the reading of a Polish poem.

The faculty advisor of the Spanish Honor Society, Señora Olsen, said, “Sigo siendo tan impresionada con los talentos y la dedicación de nuestros estudiantes. Me encanta que tantos quieran compartir su cultura con las familias de nuestra escuela. Muchísimas gracias a todos que participaron!”

“I continue to be so impressed by our students' talent and dedication. I love that so many are willing to share their culture with all the BTHS families. Many thanks to all who participated!”

A huge thank you to all that donated food, ran booths, performed, and attended for making the night as special as it was!

Pictures from the event can be seen on Biotech's Facebook page here! 

DVSF 2016

Delaware Valley Science Fair Results
March 30, 2016

Anekha Goyal - Category
- Honorable Mention Behavior & Social Sciences

Tori Tiefenthaler - Category
- Honorable Mention Biochemistry

Siddharth Iyer – Category & Special
- First Place Botany
- Society for In Vitro Biology Award
- Future Scientist/USDA Eastern Regional Res. Ctr. - Future Scientist Award
- University of the Sciences in Philadelphia Scholarship -First Place Winners
- Drexel University Partial Scholarship

Adam Konkol - Category
- Honorable Mention Environmental

Alexandra Winant - Category
- 3rd Place Medicine & Health
- University of the Sciences in Philadelphia Scholarship - Third Place Winners

Nicholas Fotopoulos - Special
- Janssen Biotech Inc, Janssen Biotech Biotechnology Award

Harrison Whitman - Special
- Harrisburg University Scholarship
- Parenteral Drug Assoc. Delaware Valley Chapter, Parenteral Drug Assoc. Award
- American Society for Microbiology

Roy Kim - Category & Special
- 2nd Place Physics
- University of the Sciences in Philadelphia Scholarship-Second Place Winners
- Nano/Bio Interface Center Award

Sophomore Team
Aditi Patel & Manasa Gadiraju - Category & Special
- Honorable Mention Team Projects
- Future Scientist/USDA Eastern Regional Res. Ctr. - Future Scientist Award

Biotech's Take on the 2016 Election

By A.J. Fezza 

The 2016 presidential primary race is heating up, with vicious exchanges between candidates in televised debates and violent disputes between people for and against Trump in places like Chicago.

On the Republican side, Donald Trump originally held a comfortable lead over the other candidates. Trump’s lead began to minimize when other candidates such as Ted Cruz and John Kasich won considerably major states such as Iowa and Ohio. However, Trump still holds a fairly comfortable lead over his competitors. As of March 20, 2016, Trump has 678 delegates, Cruz has 423 delegates, and Kasich has 143 delegates of the needed 1237 to win the Republican nomination. Marco Rubio, who just dropped out of the race on March 15, 2016, had 172 delegates.

Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton is holding a fairly comfortable lead over Bernie Sanders, yet the race is still heated and contentious. Clinton has 1132 delegates, while Sanders has 818 delegates of the needed 2,383 delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination. Sanders has a major lead over Clinton among voters in the New England region, and voters under the age of 24, while Clinton leads Sanders among African-Americans, Hispanics, and older voters.

The trend of social liberalism and support for Sanders among younger voters applies to Biotech as well, according to a school-wide poll in the first week of February. This poll also stated that Biotech students tend to be fiscally moderate, socially liberal, and care most about issues regarding education and the economy. Here is a more in-depth look at the results below:

JSSF 2016

Jersey Shore Science Fair Results
Richard Stockton College
March 16, 2016

22 of our 24 projects received recognition, with 12 of 24 placing first, second, or third. Eleven students will be moving on to Delaware Valley.

Roy Kim received the Paul Saraduke, Jr. Award - “given to top physics project in hopes that those that receive it will be encouraged to further pursue their interest in physics and maintain outstanding performance in the field.”

First Place:

• Victoria Tiefenthaler - Biochemistry
• Adam Konkol - Environmental
• Nicholas Fotopoulos - Medicine
• Harrison Whitman - Microbiology
• Roy Kim - Physics
• Manasa Gadiraju & Aditi Patel - Team Competition

Second Place:

• Anekha Goyal - Behavior & Social Science
• Alexandra Winant - Medicine
• Jason Sherman, Arpan Sahoo, & Gurshan Gill - Team Competition

Third Place:

• Siddharth Iyer - Botany
• Gillian Teitelbaum - Biochemistry
• John Rezk, Ritik Shah, Alvin Liu - Team Competition

Honorable Mention:

• Peter Nekrasov - Behavior & Social Science
• Arjun Gupta - Behavior & Social Science
• Tiffany Paul - Biochemistry
• Michael Abelar - Computers
• Tom Lehan - Environmental
• Dylan Cook - Medicine
• Taseen Alam - Medicine
• Juliana DiGiacomo - Microbiology
• Ranjan Pati - Microbiology
• Lana Salloum, Akansha Khurana, Morgan Mark - Team Competition