Fun with Soap!

Earlier this week, Mrs. Drurey's Chemistry Honors classes had the privilege of hosting Professor Patrick Gordon from Simmons College for an activity on saponification, i.e. the chemical process of producing soap. Soapmaking utilizes sodium hydroxide as a key ingredient, and the safety goggles are a must! Fortunately, all of Mrs. Drurey's students are well-versed in the safety protocols, as you can see in the goggle-filled photos below.

Behind the Scenes of the Gateway 10 Potluck

Thank you to the Gateway Social Committee and the entire Gateway Class of 2013 for producing what your teachers unanimously declared to be The Best Gateway Potluck Ever!

Now that your gifts to your teachers have been unveiled, here are some behind-the-scenes photos capturing the many hours of loving effort that were invested by members of the Gateway Social Committee, over the past several weeks. I thoroughly enjoyed feeding your creativity with many trips to the craft stores!

Broad Institute Final Presentations

Congratulations to this Gateway sophomore and her family, on the occasion of her successful team research presentation on "Bacteria in Our Environments" at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT this past Saturday. During this project, students grew bacterial cultures from samples taken from their own living environments; replicated, purified and sequenced the bacterial DNA using PCR and gel electrophoresis; identified the DNA sequences using the BLAST database tool; and then constructed phylogenetic trees to characterize the evolutionary relationships among their various bacteria types.

Gateway Terms 3 & 4 Honors Assembly

Congratulations to the following Gateway students who have earned recognition for their academic achievements in the third and fourth terms of this school year:

Amazing Aces (highest course grades):
Bianca Bertrand (History, Term 3), Kamela Hysa (Advanced Algebra, Term 3), Cuong Linh (Chemistry Honors (Mrs. Drurey), Term 3 and History, Term 4), Deja Lopes (Chemistry Honors (Ms. Potwin), Term 4), Kerlie Merizier (English Language Arts, Term 3), Christian Peguero (Advanced Algebra Honors, Term 4), Mary-Jo Raei (Chemistry Honors (Ms. Potwin), Term 3 and Advanced Algebra, Term 4), Patricia Rosa (Advanced Algebra Honors, Term 3; Chemistry Honors (Mrs. Drurey) and English Language Arts, Term 4).

Busy Beavers (perfect homework completion across all academic courses):
Guy Francois, Queenie Rigaud, Patricia Rosa

Courageous Climbers (most improved performances in individual courses):
Jonair Alves (English Language Arts, Term 3), William Jean (English Language Arts, Term 4), Ahadu Molla (History, Term 3), Deja Lopes (History and Chemistry Honors (Ms. Potwin), Term 4), Guy Francois (Advanced Algebra, Term 3), Barry Bhagwandeen (Advanced Algebra Honors, Term 3), Kimberly McNair-Myers (Advanced Algebra, Term 4),
Samantha Michel (Advanced Algebra Honors, Term 4), Cristian Polanco (Chemistry Honors (Mrs. Drurey), Term 3), Zenubia Cameron (Chemistry Honors (Ms. Potwin), Term 3), Paul Thaing (Chemistry Honors (Mrs. Drurey), Term 3).

P.R.I.D.E. of Gateway Awards:
Kevin Alves, Judy Le, Mary-Jo Raei, Suzette Schand

Cum Laude (3.00—3.49 GPA)
Bianca Bertrand, Terence Coston, Guy Francois, Candice Gonzales, Bi Yi Huang, Kamela Hysa, Judy Le, Iryelis Lopez, Kerlie Merizier, Andreina Nieves, Christian Peguero, Queenie Rigaud, Suzette Schand, Jemmie Tejeda, Lynn Celestin, Pascal Delpe-Brice, Pavel Dzemianok, Xiomara Garcia, Ayana Green, Anamol Gurung, Cassandra Leveille, Jie Hao Liang, Frankline Mardi, Christina Nguyen, Deidra Oruma, Rony Prevot, Rosa Soto, Victoria Tanis, Adrienne Thornton, Jeremy Wong, Kishma Andrew, Vicmarys Brito, Annie Moy, Lydia Price, Brendon Tan, Tai Tang, Marquette Webster

Magna Cum Laude (3.50–3.89)
Melissa Jean, Cuong Linh, Samantha Michel, Mary-Jo Raei, Patricia Rosa, Feysal Said, Jean Charles, Michael Mejia, Genesis Peña, Yaritza Sanchez, Josie Valcin, Katherine Brea, Juleissy Pimentel, Claribel Rosa, Christelle Salomon, Tiffany Wu

Gateway AP Bio - Going the Extra Mile

Last spring, we invited the entire incoming O'Bryant AP Biology class to participate in an extra weekly study support program, to help boost the entire class to a higher level of achievement on the national AP exam.

One year later, five Gateway students have stayed the course and are pushing for higher qualifying scores, with the support of excellent tutors from the Boston University School of Medicine and Harvard College. These students have committed themselves to weekly afterschool tutorials for the entire school year, plus four Saturday review sessions leading up to the May 9 exam.

Congratulations to Alexis, Anamol, Sindy, Victoria and Xiomara for your hard work and achievements this year in AP Biology!

Gateway College Decision Celebration

Four years ago, we took a group of newly-accepted O'Bryant eighth-grade Gateway students and their parents to Harvard Medical School to get a head start on their college applications:













Four years later, our first graduating O'Bryant Gateway Class of 2011 is heading off to college, and we could not be more proud! Congratulations to all our seniors and their families, and thank you for your dedication to Gateway for the past four years!

Gateway Term 2 Honors Assembly + AP Powwow!

Congratulations to the following Gateway students who have earned recognition for their academic achievements in the second term of this school year:



Amazing Aces (highest course grades):
Kerlie Merizier (English Language Arts), Iryelis Lopez (Chemistry Honors, Mrs. Drurey), Samuel Martin (Chemistry Honors, Ms. Potwin), Mary-Jo Raei (Advanced Algebra), Christian Peguero (Advanced Algebra Honors), Cuong Linh (History), Jean Charles (AP English Language and Composition), Pascal Delpe-Brice (AP Computer Science A), Xiomara Garcia (AP Biology), Michael Mejia (AP Microeconomics and Physics Honors), Kevron Robertson (Spanish 3 Honors), Josie Valcin (AP French)

Busy Beavers (highest homework average across four core courses):
Kerlie Merizier, Patricia Rosa

Courageous Climbers (most improved performances in individual courses):
Terence Coston (Advanced Algebra Honors), Guy Francois (English Language Arts), Kerlie Merizier (History), Queenie Rigaud (Advanced Algebra), Feysal Said (Chemistry Honors with Ms. Potwin), Paul Thaing (Chemistry Honors with Mrs. Drurey)

P.R.I.D.E. of Gateway Awards:
Zenubia Cameron, Cuong Linh, Iryelis Lopez, Biruk Sirmollo

Cum Laude (3.00—3.49 GPA)
Bianca Bertrand, Shacoya Fisher, Kamela Hysa, Melissa Jean, Judy Le, Iryelis Lopez, Johnny Mejia, Andreina Nieves, Kristen O’Brien, Christian Peguero, Mary-Jo Raei, Queenie Rigaud, Jemmie Tejeda, Paul Thaing, Pascal Delpe-Brice, Xiomara Garcia, Ayana Green, Anamol Gurung, Cassandra Leveille, Christina Nguyen, Kevron Robertson, Yaritza Sanchez, Rosa Soto, Victoria Tanis, Josie Valcin, Jeremy Wong, Katherine Brea, Marleah Cummins, Pierline Durand, Annie Moy, Juleissy Pimentel, Claribel Rosa, Brendon Tan, Marquette Webster

Magna Cum Laude (3.50–3.89)
Cuong Linh, Kerlie Merizier, Samantha Michel, Patricia Rosa, Michael Mejia, Kishma Andrew, Christelle Salomon, Tiffany Wu

Summa Cum Laude (3.90-4.00)
Genesis Pena

Following our Honors Assembly, several of our juniors and seniors hosted an informal "AP Powwow" to share their junior AP experiences with our current class of rising juniors, the Gateway Class of 2013. Many thanks to Jeremy, Xiomara, Josie, Annie, Cassandra, Tan, Frankline, Michael, Bianca, Genesis, Marleah, Sayyida, Jean, Yaritza, and Pierline for showing our sophomores your O'Bryant AP pride and spirit!

Gateway/BU HPREP welcomes Dean Kaplan!

Today, our HPREP student organization supported by the SNMA chapter of the BU School of Medicine was honored to host Dr. Samantha Kaplan, Assistant Dean for Diversity and Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at BUSM.

Dr. Kaplan shared with our students her experiences from college through medical school to her current work and lifestyle as an academic leader, clinician and working mother. We are very grateful for the time and excellent advice she shared with all of us!

Sophomores Sailing Through their First SATs!

Congratulations to our Gateway sophomores for successfully completing your first real SAT Reasoning Tests! Thanks to Ms. Goodner, Mr. Bhatty and four full-length practice tests, you emerged from this four-hour endurance test looking confident and strong, and we can't wait to see how your results turn out.

Special thanks to Mr. Hines for providing an amazing winter BBQ feast to our hungry test-takers!