Zubery's son part of state's winning math, science team
Students from southwest Idaho not only think outside the box, they envision what might be over the next horizon. They are mathematics and science masters, and their expertise recently qualified them for national competition in Washington, D.C.
Ryan Zubery, son of ITD’s Muhammad Zubery, was among the middle school students from the Treasure Valley Math & Science Center (TVMSC) who emerged as Idaho’s best in recent science competition. Zubery is a 14-year-old student at Riverglen Junior High in Boise and attends TVMSC for advanced classes.
Ryan’s father Muhammad is an engineer manager at ITD Headquarters in Boise.
The TVMSC team won the regional championship of the 2012 National Science Bowl event in Boise Feb. 12. Created in 1991, the National Science Bowl is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.
The students and their coach earned an all-expenses paid trip to the national competition next month.
Other members of Idaho’s winning team are: Nate Marshall, 13, North Junior High; Luke Harmon, 13, Boise High School; Ben Huang, 14, North Junior High, and Karthik Mouli, 13, North Junior High. Janice Poppenga, who teaches accelerated earth science and introduction to research at TVMSC, coached the winning team.
“The competition was fierce and our students competed very well in subject areas that are important to the future success of our local, state and national economies,” Poppenga told the Idaho Statesman.
TVMSC is a magnet school program in the Boise School District. The program is designed for exceptional public, private and home-schooled students.
The school “offers a seamless, integrated progression of challenging mathematics and science courses for high potential students in multi-age cohorts from seventh through 12th grades.”
Supported by the Micron Foundation for Academic Excellence and Hewlett-Packard, the school opened in 2004. It is “student-centered and inquiry based, incorporating research-based, hands-on investigations that integrate mathematics, science, communication and technology,” according to its Website.
Photo: Ryan Zubery is in the foreground on the far right of the TVMSC photo.
Published 3-2-2012