Whiz Kids: Monrovia High School Students Lead Math and Science Academy

Who:  Heather Pentacost, Amelia Richardson, Sophie Zaroyn, Giselle Moreau, Akira McDaniels, and Khalil Simaan are all juniors at Monrovia High School.

Accomplishment: The six juniors guided their freshmen peers through two science classes for an advanced lesson in anatomy and dissection.

Key To Awesomeness: The students are all enrolled in the Monrovia High School Math and Science Academy. Through a collaboration between Citrus College and MASA, the six juniors visited the labs at the college last month to learn how to dissect a cat with Citrus Biology professor Arnold Kondo. They were able to share their knowledge with freshmen in Kristin Ford’s Pre AP Biology classes by teaching groups of 7-8 freshmen how to dissect and identify all the major anatomical parts of a cat.

Besides enjoying access to Citrus College’s labs and equipment, MASA students have the opportunity to attend a number of scientific lectures and field trips throughout the school year. In order to graduate from the academy, the students must also complete a junior project and take four AP courses in math and science by the end of their senior year. Richardson, Zaroyn, Moreau, McDaniels, and Simaan are meeting their MASA junior project requirements by teaching the freshmen about dissection and anatomy. In addition to participating in the dissection project, the MASA juniors are currently fulfilling another one of their requirements by taking AP Chemistry with Carter James.