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BUA Robotics Team Represented at MA STEM Week Kickoff Event

October 17th, 2023in BUA News and Stories, Homepage News

On Monday, October 16, Boston University Academy's robotics team, the Lobstah Bots, represented BUA at the MA STEM Week Kickoff event hosted by Boston University at the Center for Computing & Data Sciences. The event featured remarks by Massachusetts Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll; Massachusetts Secretary of Education Dr. Patrick Tutwiler; and Boston University Provost ad interim Dr. Kenneth Lutchen.

At the kickoff event, the BUA robotics team demonstrated one of their robots as part of the STEM exhibits on display, and also met with New England FIRST robotics director Michael Fantom and a reporter from WBZ radio. Says Lobstah Bots team captain George Baltus '24, "We were really happy for the opportunity to attend the event and continue to find more new ways to contribute to our Boston community!"

A collaboration of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education and the STEM Advisory Council, STEM Week is an annual statewide effort to boost the interest, awareness, and ability of all learners to make the most of STEM opportunities. 

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  • Members of the BUA Lobstah Bots pose with their robot before the start of the event.

  • Massachusetts Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll (center) kicked off Massachusetts STEM Week at BU's Center for Computing and Data Sciences.

  • Lobstah Bot team member Kendree Chen '25 shares information about the robot with students from the Trotter Charter School in Roxbury, MA.

  • Eli Scott-Joseph '24 (left) and George Baltus '24 speak with WBZ Radio reporter James Rojas.

  • The team poses with their robot on BU's Center for Computing and Data Sciences's 17th floor.

 

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Happy Kids

October 10th, 2023in HOS Blog

On October 5, we welcomed nearly 150 BUA parents and guardians to our first-ever State of the School event. It was a beautiful moment of connection – families from over 50 cities and towns enjoying the company of the teachers who are folk heroes around their dinner tables and other parents whose children they hear so much about.  We are excited to make this an annual tradition. Please enjoy these pictures from the event.

I told a story about my recent phone conversation with a parent of a BUA graduate. She was telling me about her daughter’s experience in college – adjusting to a new environment and navigating her newfound independence. I was telling her about our three-year-old’s first few weeks at school – getting used to the routine, getting to know his teachers, making friends. In the end, we both landed in the same place: what we want – the only thing we want – is for our kids to be happy. 

As I shared at the State of the School, the thing I am proudest of about BUA is that our kids – most of them, most of the time – are happy. They are happy because they are at a place where they can be their kind and curious selves. While I was greeting students yesterday morning, I asked them to tell me about some school-related thing they were feeling happy about. Students told me about creating a musical composition inspired by Beowulf; a conversation with a BU professor about his senior thesis about the built environment in Medford; the fall girls’ crew program; exploring pre-colonial Africa in 10th-grade history; interrogating the concept of truth while reading Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography; studying water fleas under a microscope in 9th-grade biology; starting rehearsals for Our Town; strong student interest in Chemistry Club; the all-school breakfast sponsored by the Latin American Student Association; how much fun Greek class is; getting to talk about – rather than just do – math in class. I also heard a lot about their friends who, not long ago, were strangers, but now will be lifelong companions. I am deeply grateful to everybody in the community – parents, teachers, staff, and students – for helping make this a community where these kids can thrive – and smile.

BUA Seniors Earn National Merit Honors

October 2nd, 2023in BUA News and Stories, Homepage News

Thirty-seven percent of the Boston University Academy Class of 2024 received recognition in the 69th annual National Merit Scholarship Program competition. The competition honors the nation’s scholastic champions and recognizes exceptional academic promise in high school seniors nationwide.

Twenty current BUA seniors were named National Merit Commended Scholars. Out of these 20 Commended Scholars, six BUA seniors were named National Merit Semifinalists, placing them among the top 1% of all US high school seniors who entered the competition.

Over 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The nationwide pool of Semifinalists includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.

Semifinalists will have the opportunity to compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $25,000 Scholarships. National Merit Scholar finalists will be announced in February of 2024. 

    One member of the BUA Class of 2025 received College Board National Recognition Program honors by scoring in the top 2.5% of PSAT/NMSQT test takers who identify as African American, Hispanic American, Latinx, or Indigenous. 

    Congratulations to all of BUA’s honorees on this well-deserved recognition!

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    Holding Doors

    September 29th, 2023in HOS Blog

    I noticed one of our students holding the door for her classmates on several occasions during our opening days. She did it without fanfare or hesitation. Everybody who passed through the door said thank you. And then one of them held the next door for the group further down the hallway. I like to imagine that this door-holding behavior was contagious and lasted all day!

    Whenever I see a small moment of kindness – holding a door, picking up a piece of trash, showing a visitor where to go – I make sure to take the student aside and thank them for doing the right thing. Small moments like that inspire others in the community. They spread joy. And, most importantly, those habits build character – which, in the end, is what we care most about.

    Exploring Adventurously

    September 22nd, 2023in HOS Blog

    I walked out of the BUA building one morning last week with three of our seniors, each of whom was on the way to a different BU class. One was headed to a history course: Magic, Science, and Religion. She was finding it fascinating and contrasted her reaction to that of many of her BU classmates, who admitted to taking it to fulfill a core requirement. Another student was on his way to an American literature course, which he described as a great opportunity to build on the novels he had read last year in his BUA English course. The third was bounding off to Cosmology; she shared that the course made things tough on her schedule, since it backed into soccer practice, but the material was too interesting to pass up!

    Our mission describes BUA as a place where students can “explore adventurously the wider world of learning at Boston University.” It is such a joy to watch our students do that. Young kids start out so curious, but schools sometimes have the effect of squashing that passion for learning along the way. I am so glad that there is a school like this – filled with kids whose flame burns bright and with a culture that celebrates that kind of joyful inquiry. Now, off to class!

    Letting Students Lead

    September 15th, 2023in HOS Blog

    Last year, we formed a committee – led by students and including several members of the faculty – to generate ideas for how to improve the senior experience, with a particular focus on encouraging senior connections with younger students and with life in the BUA building. The group made three recommendations, all of which have been implemented: hosting a senior retreat, which took place on Thompson Island in late August for some early bonding before a busy fall; bringing much-needed new furniture into the Junior-Senior Common Room; and designating the Quiet Study Room, formerly open to all students, as a place for juniors and seniors to work between BU classes rather than going to the BU library and other spaces up and down Comm. Ave. It’s all working! Despite a rainy day, the energy at the retreat was positive and fun, and it has continued into September. We are seeing many more seniors in the BUA building all throughout the day – whether they are piled on the new couches in the JSR or studying Differential Equations in the QSR. We are all better for having our seniors happy, connected, and close by.

    One of the challenges with the Quiet Study Room in the past has been keeping it quiet; students understandably wanted to talk and joke, which was sometimes loud and disruptive to others trying to study or to students in the English classroom next door. We adults had frankly failed to solve the problem. So, we turned to the students – and they have (so far) fixed it! They announced a witty rebrand of the QSR to the CIA (Considerate Independent-study Area), borrowing wording from quiet spaces in the Mugar Library that students are already familiar with. They designed and placed reminder placards on the tables in the room about the noise expectations in that space. They even posted a public service announcement on the Student Council Instagram. They are owning the change, and it’s working.

    When we listen to students and empower them to build the kind of community they want to be in, we all move forward together. They have a lived experience we adults simply don’t have. They understand things we don’t. They can tell us what they need. They know how to inspire their classmates. They understand how to change the culture. And they learn that they are capable and powerful agents for positive change – an insight they will carry with them beyond these walls. I could not be more proud of our seniors, more grateful for the tone they are setting for all of us this year, and more optimistic about the months ahead.

    “On Grades and Mindsets”: Opening Day Remarks from Head of School Chris Kolovos

    On September 5, 2023, Boston University Academy Head of School Chris Kolovos welcomed students, faculty, and staff back to school with the following remarks "On Grades and Mindsets." You can watch the full recording of Mr. Kolovos's ASM remarks at this link.

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    Good morning. It is lovely to see you all today. On behalf of the faculty and staff, welcome to this 31st year of BU Academy. 

    A special welcome to our new students. You are impressive individuals, but what binds you together is your curiosity and your kindness. That is also what connects you to all of us. You make us better, and we are so glad you are here. 

    An extra special welcome to the class of 2024. You have earned a reputation – a  good one – for being cohesive and inclusive. That was on full display at the senior retreat, where I watched your friend groups mix and morph over the course of one meal. You have also earned a reputation for being engaged and for trying to make this school better; we will all see evidence of that today from two of our Student Council leaders. You all are one of the reasons I'm so optimistic about this year, it is going to be a great one. 

    In just a few moments, you will hear from Anais, our Student Council president. But first, I'll offer some thoughts as I do at the start of every year. 

    My topic today is a rather serious one. I am going to talk today about the pressure that some of you feel to achieve academically – the oftentimes unhealthy focus on grades. Now, I am not saying that this is a BUA-only phenomenon or that this concern applies to all of you all of the time. Certainly not. In many ways, we are beautifully counterculture. So many of you exhibit a deep, abiding love for learning; curiosity is a thread that runs through this community, often overcoming a hyper-focus on grades. 

    But we are not immune to this phenomenon. It is something I worry about. The good news is that there is something we can do about it. Some of you will resist what I have to say. At your age, frankly, I might have too. Still, I wish somebody had said it when I was in your position, and I hope I would have listened. 

    Learning as Play

    After that dour note, I'll begin with something happier. At home right now, I have a front row seat to how babies and toddlers learn. Those of you with young siblings and cousins know this too. Maggie and Penny, our twins, are nine months old. They are learning how to walk. Right now they are at the stage where they crawl over to the couch, pull themselves up to stand, and then almost immediately land really hard on their backsides. My wife and I talk about lining the house with pillows and bubble wrap. But the girls just laugh hysterically and try again.

    Our son Charlie, is three years old. He's a verbal little guy; we have lots of fun conversations. But neither of us taught him how to talk. He learned by trying and by messing up over and over again. Over time, “ut” became “up.” Where are them?” became “Where are they?” “Mys” is becoming “mine” (although I have to say I don't blame him for that one; “mys” makes so much more sense when you think about “ours” and “yours” and “his” and “hers”).

    Kids are amazing. They're just not afraid to make mistakes. They don't see mistakes as failures. They don't say, “I'm so embarrassed about my grammar.” They don't say, “You know, walking is overrated. I'm not really a walking person. I'm just gonna crawl.” For them, learning is play. 

    So What Changes?

    And then somewhere along the line things change, and not in a good way. Learning stops feeling like play and feels more like work. Learning becomes stressful and can provoke anxiety. Schools have a lot to do with that. This is not your fault. Particularly when we start giving grades, students can fixate on those measures – fixate on those grades, scores, and honors.

    I started down this path early. I remember – and this is family lore – that I cried in the first grade when I received an A-. In the second grade, I remember the name of the student who beat me at a multiplication contest. I remember in the seventh grade, when I started at private school, the string of B's and C's on my report card – grades I had never seen before; I remember feeling like an imposter in those moments. And, for some reason, I kept all of my report cards and standardized test score reports in a little treasure box in my parents' closet. 

    The research shows that this is not healthy. This anxious hyperfocus on grades leads to really pernicious outcomes. It squashes curiosity. It discourages risk-taking. It discourages asking for help when you need it. It actually makes your performance worse. It can have negative mental health outcomes, especially when you are measuring your self-worth by letters on a report card. 

    It can even lead someone to put their character at risk by cheating. A fellow head of school shared a particularly sad example. She told me that one of her students cheated on a placement test. Mind you, there are no reportable grades on a placement test. Cheating on a placement test actually makes it harder for a student to succeed. When she asked the student why, the student said, “I wanted to do well.”

    The question is, why does this happen? How do we go from happy, mistake-making, giggling toddlers to people who worry so much about outcomes, even for deeply curious and strong students like you? There are certainly external factors, and I do not want to downplay those: college, parents, and society more broadly. I will address those. But I suspect that the biggest driver for many of us is internal.

    Grades and Growth Mindsets

    I would like to tell you a story about a friend of mine from college who was a star in high school. She went to a school very much like this one, was at the top of her class, and went to a name-brand college. And she loved math. In her freshman year of college, she earned an A in multivariable calculus and differential equations in the first semester and then an A- in linear algebra in the second semester. That course was hard for her, but rather than being proud of her A-, she took it as a sign that she had reached her math limit. She never took a math course again. She decided to major in environmental science – a field aligned with her passion and where she thought she would be able to do some good in the world. In her sophomore year, she earned a B in a course in her major. Not used to seeing that grade, she took it as a sign that she would struggle and switched majors to safer ground.

    Like so many strong students, she learned the lesson early in life that she was smart – good at school. That was part of her identity. She received a lot of praise for that. She was really proud of it. The string of A’s she received along the way was evidence that she was smart and good at school.

    And that’s just the problem. If an A means that you are smart or good at something, what does it B mean? What does an A- mean? Lower grades must mean that you are not smart, not good at something, and that you have maxed your ability. You should not take the next challenge because you might fail and expose your weakness, with consequences for your identity and your self worth.

    What she was exhibiting was a clear example of what is called a fixed mindset. The research here is fascinating. One of the leading thinkers in this area is Dr. Carol Dweck at Stanford. Her work describes two categories of people. In one category are people with what’s called a fixed mindset, who tend to believe that traits are fixed and stable over time – things like your intelligence and mathematical ability. Those do not fundamentally change; you are born with them. By contrast, people with a growth mindset think very differently. They view traits as changeable over time. You can get smarter and more skilled through effort.

    What is fascinating about the research is not the categorization; it is the outcomes. The research shows that people with a fixed mindset, controlling for all other factors, tend to perform worse than people with a growth mindset. Those with a growth mindset tend to perform better. For example, researchers tracked students with growth and fixed mindsets over time in math and found that students with a growth mindset ended up in higher levels of math years afterwards as they progressed through their education. 

    It might seem surprising that the way we think about learning impacts how well we do. But consider feedback and how we respond to mistakes. In response to a low grade, people with a fixed mindset often look around to see who did worse than they did and then feel a little better about themselves. They stick to areas where they can really excel and put their effort there. If you have a growth mindset, what do you do with a mistake? They are not scared of the result, but see it as a chance to learn. They ask for help. They try harder and see what their effort can  accomplish – just like every toddler.

    Retraining our Brains

    Here's the good news: we can control our mindset. We can develop a growth mindset and we can change the way we think about grades.

    We are working on this as a school. Last summer, the faculty summer read was a book called Grading for Equity. Since then, we have been talking a great deal about our grading practices, our grading policies, what we want grades to mean, and how we telegraph that. 

    Classically, grades have been seen as sorting mechanisms. We reject that. We have no honors and non-honors tracks to sort you into. We have no class rank. We do not grade on a curve. 

    The purpose of grades, for us, is not to tell you if you are good at Latin or whether you are better at math than the student sitting next to you. It is to answer one simple question: can you do the things we're asking you to do right now? Can you do all of them? Can you do some of them? How well can you do them? A grade is a diagnostic snapshot at a moment in time to tell you whether your effort is producing the results you are hoping for. And it is a guide to where you might want to work harder and ask for help.

    Now, this does not mean you should not care about your grades. Of course you should – but not as a confirmation of some fixed ability or some innate skill. Take a grade as feedback. “Is what I'm doing for homework working? Where do I need to improve?” I also do not mean to suggest that talent does not matter. We all have natural strengths – of course we do. But we can all improve, and grades can help us do that if framed the right way. 

    This is perhaps the only time this year I will make a sports reference. It’s a story about Michael Jordan, who was, as some of you know, cut from his varsity basketball team as a sophomore in high school. He was placed on the JV team to develop. Worse yet, when he looked at the varsity roster, he saw the name of one of his classmates – another sophomore. Jordan's reaction famously was that he simply was not as good as the other players at that moment. Notice how different that is than “I'm not a good basketball player.” He also has said that getting cut was the best thing that could have happened to him because it led him to respond with effort. Effort and a growth mindset became lifelong habits for Michael Jordan, helping him become arguably the most dominant basketball player in history. 

    College Myths

    Some of you are likely thinking, “Come on, Mr. Kolovos. There's an enormous pachyderm standing in the corner: college. Colleges care about our grades. They are not looking at our effort. They don't care how hard we try. They are just looking at the scores and the letters. Of course we're gonna stress about it.” 

    True. You're right. Colleges have become very selective, especially the places you all tend to want to go. Selectivity rates have plummeted as applications have increased. 8% admission rates are 92% rejection rates. 

    Scores and grades are important factors in college admissions, but I’ll suggest that they should not cause the distress that they do. There are four myths I want to unpack for you briefly. 

    One myth is that stressing about grades leads to better outcomes. That's nonsense. Stress makes outcomes worse. Anybody who has ever had a moment of test anxiety knows this. What helps is being open to feedback, learning, and bouncing back; that actually produces higher outcomes and the transcripts you may want. 

    Myth number two: we at BUA are competing against one another for a limited number of slots at these selective schools, and so small differences in GPAs matter. Nonsense. I can tell you that in one year, Brand X college admitted four or five BUA students. In the very next year, they admitted zero. They do not have a quota. If they want you – if they see something in you that they really like – they will admit you. They do not care about how many of you are applying to their school.

    Myth number three: all colleges care about is grades and scores. I've talked to about three dozen deans of admission at the most highly selective colleges and universities in the country and I have asked them about how they read your applications. They turn away hundreds of valedictorians with perfect grades every year. What they are really looking for is a combination of students who can do the work at the college level, who are on fire with curiosity, and who have shown an inclination to connect that curiosity with something that matters – showing the promise to have an impact on their world. You all are in an almost unique position to do those things, and that is why they tell me that they love reading your applications.

    The most pernicious college myth, though, is that going to the most selective college you can is a predictor of success and happiness. The research does not support that. What does matter is what you do when you are there. Who are the professors you meet? Who are your friends? What research do you engage in? What classes do you take? And I'll tell you that after a while nobody cares where you went to college. It is often the most insecure adults who remind you of where they went to college later in life. Pick a place you love and a program you connect with. 

    Parents

    Some of you may have noticed that I have not talked much about another important piece here: parents. You might say, “Come on Mr. Kolovos, you're ignoring my parents, who really want me to excel. I have to get the grades.” For some of you, that parental pressure may be explicit. For others, likely for many of you, I'm guessing that the pressure is implicit or internalized. Even if your parents tell you to just do your best, you might feel some pressure to live up to the standard they set when they were in school. Or maybe, like my parents, yours did not go to college, but you feel the pressure to establish the family and do as well as you can on your family’s behalf.

    I have two things I’d like you to think about when it comes to parents. One, if your parents seem anxious about your grades, scores, and college, have some empathy. It often comes from a desire to give you a happy life. They are just not sure how to do that. Here's why.

    A psychologist I deeply admire shared the following thought experiment. Think about a time ten generations ago and what our lives looked like. It would have been fairly easy for parents to ensure your success because the future was much more predictable. You would likely live in the same village or town that your parents lived in. You would likely marry somebody from that village, and perhaps the marriage would be arranged. If your parents made fishing nets, you would have been very likely to learn that trade at their feet and take over the business. 

    Now, who knows where you are going to live? It could be anywhere around the world. You might meet your partner online. Your job could be anything; it might not even be invented yet. Your family cannot prepare you for that. And that's unnerving for parents. What they are trying to do is give you all the advantages they can in that great cloud of uncertainty. They sometimes see grades and college as something they can control in order for you to be happy. 

    Deep down, they just want you to be happy. I know this because I have asked them. I talked to the parents of about fifty incoming ninth graders during the month of August and asked them what their hopes are for you. Not a single person mentioned grades. Not a single person mentioned a college list or a career. What they said was that they want you to stay curious, find great friends, find great mentors, be challenged, grow, and be happy.

    So, one piece of homework for all of you. When you go home tonight to your parents, to your guardians, to your family, ask them what their hopes are for you at BUA and what they hope for you beyond this place. Listen with an open heart. Tell them about your hopes. And then give them a hug and tell them you love them.

    *****

    I wish you all a great year. Thank you very much.

    Congrats and Good Luck, Class of 2023!

    August 24th, 2023in BUA News and Stories, Homepage News

    As summer wanes and back-to-school energy fills the air, we are wishing our most recent graduates the very best of luck as they embark on the next step of their journeys at college and beyond.

    As you can see from the impressive matriculation list below, the members of the BUA Class of 2023 have exciting paths ahead of them. Watch out, world -- these talented, passionate, determined young people are ready to make their mark. To our newest alums: we couldn’t be prouder of you. Stay in touch, drop us a postcard from your adventures, and don’t forgot to stop by for a visit when you’re in town — you’ll always have a home at BUA.

    Members of the BUA Class of 2023 will attend the following institutions this fall:


    Barnard College
    Bentley University
    Boston College
    Boston University (11)
    Brown University
    Bryn Mawr College
    University of California – Berkeley
    University of California – San Diego
    Carnegie Mellon University (2)
    University of Chicago
    Cornell University (2)
    Dartmouth College
    Harvard University (2)
    Haverford College
    University of Maryland – College Park
    University of Massachusetts – Amherst
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2)
    McGill University
    New York University (2)
    Northeastern University (4)
    Northwestern University
    Oberlin College
    Oregon State University
    University of Pennsylvania
    Smith College
    The George Washington University
    Tufts University (2)
    Williams College
    Yale University (3)

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    The Many Side Projects of Dr. Brett Abigaña

    In addition to being BUA's longtime and beloved music teacher, Dr. Brett Abigaña is a nationally-known, highly in-demand composer and conductor who crisscrosses the country (and beyond!) showcasing his talents. In the past year alone, hiss work has taken him from Hawai’i to Mystic, CT, from the hallowed chambers of Carnegie Hall to the toes-in-the-sand amphitheater on Cape Cod’s National Seashore. 

    In December of 2022, Dr. Abigaña traveled to Chicago to present his music at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, and in February did the same at the California State Music Educators Conference, where he met conductors and educators from all over the west coast, had performances of his music, and discussed new projects.

    A new music podcast, “Off the Shelf,” was born from one of these conversations. The first episode has been recorded and will be launched in the coming months (stay tuned!). This summer, he was a guest on fellow composer Sergio Barer’s podcast “Let’s Talk About Music.”  

    In March of 2023, Dr. Abigaña traveled to Honolulu, Hawai’i as the Composer-In-Residence for the Pacific Basin Music Festival, a position he’s held for the past five years. The following month, he made a quick day trip to New York City to host the New York International Music Festival Concert at Carnegie Hall. He returned to Carnegie Hall this past June as Composer-In-Residence for the New York Sounds of Summer Music Festival, where his piece “At First Sight” had its world premiere. 

    In May, Dr. Abigaña received a commission from the US Naval Academy to write a piece commemorating the appointment of the female Superintendent of the USNA. The piece, a new oratorio tentatively titled “Athena’s Ascent,” honors women in leadership generally and in Naval leadership specifically, and will be performed in January of 2024 by the USNA Band and USNA Women’s chorus, along with a soprano soloist and the USNA Chapel Organ, the largest drawbar organ in the world. In preparation for this premiere, the USNA Admiral has ordered a complete inspection of the structural integrity of the USNA Chapel, a piece of which was broken off as a result of the sympathetic vibrations of the organ music Dr. Abigaña wrote for his last USNA commission. Dr. A. shares that “I’ve secretly been in touch with the organist, and he’s up for the challenge of breaking the chapel just a little bit more with some very loud organ music.”

    Many teachers use summer months as a chance to rest and recharge. Not Dr. A. This year, the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra commissioned him for a new piece to be premiered at their July 4th concert. Unfortunately, the concert was canceled due to rain; fortunately, it was rescheduled to later in the summer, which means you haven’t missed it! The piece is called The Lamp Beside the Golden Door, and will accompany a reading of “The New Colossus,” Emma Lazarus’s famous poem about the Statue of Liberty. You can catch this free concert on Thursday, August 24 at 7:00 p.m. at the National Seashore Amphitheatre in Eastham, MA; lawn chairs and picnics encouraged! 

    Kelsey Liu ’26 Earns Spot at US National Chess Championships

    This summer, Kelsey Liu ‘26 defended her title as the girls state champion in chess, winning the Massachusetts Girls Championship with a perfect 5- score at the June competition in Boston. Her performance earned her a qualifying spot at the US Junior Championship hosted this month by the St. Louis Chess Club in St. Louis, MO. This invitational tournament features the top chess players in America under the age of 20, and Kelsey says she feels “Incredibly humbled and honored to be a part of this prestigious event.”

    Kelsey placed 8th overall in the final standings, earning her $700 in prize money. She shared that "the tournament was really fun and I made some new friends there too. Although I didn’t do as well as I would have liked...I gained a great deal of experience and am determined to keep improving!"

    Kelsey is currently ranked the #13 chess player among US girls under 21 and #16 for age 14 overall. She is pictured here with the world's largest chess piece in front of the World Chess Hall of Fame!

     

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