In honor of Women’s History Month, teacher, female students share their experiences in science

Grace Xu
March 20, 2020

Click on the photos below to read the full Q&A’s for each person, including those that were not able to be featured in print.

Shruthi Ravichandran
Freshman Grace Zhang

Shruthi Ravichandran
Junior Olivia White

Shruthi Ravichandran
Junior Sophia “Sophie” Sinder

Shruthi Ravichandran
Senior Nicole Segaran

Shruthi Ravichandran
Science Department Chair Jennifer Drudge

Shruthi Ravichandran
AP Chemistry Teacher Virginia Kundrat

Shruthi Ravichandran
Honors Chemistry Teacher Cynthia Henry

Junior Olivia White Can you describe your involvement in STEM? I've been in STEM classes since my freshman year, so I've been in the required ones—honors biology, honors chemistry—and then I also took part in the Project Lead The Way courses… Something I…
Rise in female protagonist roles in movies allows for stronger representation of women Princesses, witches, fairies… there were many personalities for Rachel Redman, cosplay club member and junior, to look up to, and later dress up as while growing up. Today, there are even more characters for girls to look to as powerful…
Senior Nicole Segaran Can you describe your involvement in STEM? I've taken almost all of the AP STEM classes, like AP physics, AP bio, all that stuff. Also, I co-founded a club here at school called Science Works, dedicated to putting on science…
Senior Iris Yan Can you talk about your involvement in STEM? I've taken all the AP science classes. For math, I've taken precalculus, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, and I’m in IB Multivariable Calculus. For extracurriculars, I do a couple of clubs. I…
Junior Sophia "Sophie" Sinder Can you describe your involvement in STEM? This year I am taking three science classes. Last year I only took two, and then the year before, I took two as well. But basically, these are the classes that I've always…
Science Department Chair Jennifer Drudge Could you talk about your journey through STEM, and what brought you to where you are now? I always enjoyed school and I really always enjoyed all subjects in school. It was my chemistry class in high school that was…

About the Contributors

Grace Xu, Writing Coach/Chief Reporter

Hi, I'm Grace Xu, a junior and second-year staff member. Along with Michelle Lu, I will be working as the Chief Reporter/Writing Coach for the year....

Lillian He, Feature Editor

Hi, my name is Lillian He. This is my second year as a part of the Hilite staff and I am a feature editor along with Wendy Zhu. Last year I was a News...

Shruthi Ravichandran, Litebox Editor

Hi, I'm Shruthi. I am currently a junior and this is my second year bring on the HiLite staff. I am also one of the Litebox editors for this year. Outside...

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5.21.20

May 21, 2020

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Photo of the Day

STATS FUN: Senior Mars Sefanidou gives instructions on her game at the statistics carnival on Jan. 10. The carnival occurred during first and second session of SRT and all the AP Statistics students were required to be there.
Calina He
CHEERING ON THE ICE: Freshman Averi Weninger cheers on the Carmel Icehounds Blue team in their home game against Hamilton Southeastern on November 8. This was her fourth game she had attended this school year. Weninger said she loves supporting the team but she hopes more students will come to games in the future.
Olivia McKee
WORKING IT OUT: Junior Caroline West lifts weights during her Advanced Physical Conditioning class on Nov. 11. Students in this class spend their time training in all areas of fitness and have to do several prerequisites to be eligible for this class.
Victoria Nopporn
GENES, GENES, GENES: Junior Lauren Lee takes self-guided notes from an online stimulation from which she learns about the proper way to cut genes in order to create vaccines in her Medical Interventions class on Oct. 31. The class will then use this information to help them in a lab the following class.
Shruthi Ravichandran
SPECTACULAR SENIORS: Flutist and senior Jaehee Kim and oboist and senior Alyssa Smith warm up during SRT on Nov. 1. Kim and Smith rehearsed for Holiday Spectacular 2019: "Senses of the Season" that will take place on Dec. 4 to 8.
Richa Louis
TMP in SRT: Juinors and AP Seminar students, Eli Kurlander (left) and Cate Jacobson (right) rehearse their team multimedia presentation (TMP) during late start SRT on Oct. 30. Kurlander and Jacobson worked alongside two other group members in order to answer the following question: to what extent do dairy farms affect the quality of life in California?
Maddie Kosc
SERIOUS SAWING: Jewelry student and sophomore Kendall Frobig cuts her design out of metal with a saw frame in the jewelry classroom on Oct. 28. The jewelry piece is for the Culture of Care week project, where students create a piece to give to someone who inspires them. Frobig said, “My take away from this class is that there are so many ways you can be creative, I never thought I’d be working with metal and creating wearable pieces, but here I am.”
Veronica Teeter
DISCUSSION STARTERS: Senior Adam Meroueh considers the questions from boxes that the Let's Talk Club left throughout the library on Oct. 29. Meroueh was reading about the death penalty and thinking about his stance on the issues.
Calina He
LEARNING THROUGH LANDSCAPES: Sophomore Marianne Cadio works on her chalk pastel landscape in Drawing 3 on October 22, 2019. The purpose of the piece was to get a feel for chalk pastel, a relatively new medium to most students, before creating their final project. “I’m creating a city street from Tokyo,” Cadio explained. “I chose this place because it has a lot of memories attached to it.”
Chloe Sun
PHOTO EDITING: Sophomore Kendall Frobig learns new ways to edit her picture for her photography class in order to win Best of Studio Lighting Photos. Frobig says she really wants to win so she can get her photo hung up on the wall of her classroom and she wants to see how well she improves during the year.
Thea Bertolini
CAFE SECURITY: Senior Spencer Hooton prepares a drink at the Carmel Cafe during SRT on Nov. 25. The Carmel Cafe said that they are planning to incorporate new security policies. Learn more about this at https://hilite.org/67274/news/protect-the-house-carmel-cafe-staff-advisers-plan-to-implement-new-security-measures/!
Richa Louis
CANES AND SWORDS: Austin Rubin (second left) and Ryan Yauger (second right), The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe actors and juniors, practice blocking for a fight routine on Jan 9 in Mrs. Cassidy's acting classroom. Emily Sanders (left), student director and senior, takes notes on the routine they come up with so that it's not forgotten at future practices. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe will show Feb 6, 7, and 9 in the Dale E. Graham Auditorium.
Veronica Teeter
REVISION REVELRY: Junior Wiliam Van Horn (right) shows junior Sumeet Singh (left) his assignment on a class activity in their AP Seminar class on Jan 8. This semester the class will redo the same assignments they were assigned as last semester to submit to the College Board as part of their AP exam for the class.
Shruthi Ravichandran
HERE COMES SECOND SEMESTER: Amit Manchella, AP Capstone Seminar student and sophomore, writes potential topics for his approaching Individual Research Report (IRR) and Team Multimedia Presentation (TMP) with the onset of a new semester on Jan. 7. The AP Seminar students began working on Task 1, consisting of the IRR and the TMP, which will be submitted to the College Board as a portion of their AP score come April.
Maddie Kosc
COLLEGE COMPOSITIONS: Senior Andrew Zhang works on his Common App college application essay during a Transition to College Program period on Nov. 13. The Common App regular decision deadline for 2019 is Jan. 1.
Ray Mo
RESEARCH REVIEW: Junior Hope Brewer, left, and sophomore Davis Compton, right, discuss their research topics with their table group in AP Seminar on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019. Their topics all had a central theme of work, and they worked on finding perspectives, arguments, and solutions for their topics.
Chloe Sun
DAY LONG STUDY HALL: Senior Maria Zweig works on a speech assignment during her gold day block four class. Because of the teacher absences due to the Red for Ed march downtown, Zweig had no classes with agendas. Zweig said, “Basically every period has been a study hall, it’s been kind of boring but it’s nice getting a ton of work done.”
Veronica Teeter
TEST PRINTING: Senior Yannik Singh looks over the Science Olympiad tests he just printed on Nov. 20. Singh said he is a captain for the Science Olympiad club.
Calina He
TWO-TONED: Junior Ana Veros colors in the face of a woman for her AP Studio Art project, switching off between two shades of peach, on Nov. 22. Veros said that so far she has really enjoyed AP Studio Art but does think that the class is somewhat stressful as she prefers to work at a slower pace than the class demands.
Shruthi Ravichandran
HONORS READS: Sophomore and Honors English 10 student Molly Crosby reads her assigned reading book for quarter 2 on October 21. This is the second assigned book for the school year. Crosby says that so far she loves her class and is glad she chose to take Honors English even though she is not enjoying this book so far.
Olivia McKee
SPREADS FOR SENIORS: Bryan Nguyen, Senior Ads Editor and senior, edits a spread for the yearbook during B4 on Oct. 17. Nguyen said that senior ads are due on Dec. 6. Nguyen also said although he has a few ads right now, he will be swamped with more ads closer to the deadline due to most students submitting the form near the due date.
Richa Louis
HOT COFFEE: Senior Lilly Gallagher buys a hot coffee from the Carmel Cafe and Market as senior Kamryn Kichefski takes her order. The Carmel Cafe and Market employees each have specific work times during and after school.
Victoria Nopporn
FUELING UP: Paige Zurcher, sophomore and member of Carmel Swim Club, drinks her chocolate milk while she eats breakfast after morning swim practice on Tuesday Sept. 17. That morning she had completed a leg focused workout in the CHS weight room. Zurcher said chocolate milk is an excellent source of protein for after practice recovery and she drinks it daily to keep healthy.
Olivia McKee
SENIOR SMILES: Senior Ruby Sanders shares a funny story on her phone with her friends during her release period on Sept. 19. Senior schedule requires students to take four fully weighted classes in order to be eligible.
Victoria Nopporn
KEY SPEECH: Sophomore Nicole Sale gives her officer speech for Key Club in the Freshman Cafeteria during late start on Sept. 18. Sale competed against two other sophomores for a position as Key Club class officer. Key Club’s next meeting will be on Oct. 9 in Media Classrooms 1 & 2.
Ray Mo
INTERVIEW PREPPING: Senior Robert Sanchez prepares the radio set up for interviews. Sanchez tells how college representatives are coming to Carmel High School and are speaking to him for interviews about the colleges. He plans to make a series with the all the interviews as a way to get the word out about what they have to offer.
Thea Bertolini
SURVEY DURING SRT: Vidhur Bynagari, calculus survey student and senior, sits with calculus survey teacher Matthew Wernke during SRT on Sept. 10. Bynagari said that he asked Wernke for help in order to review for his calculus survey test on Friday.
Richa Louis
RADIO FOOTBALL: Senior Jace Dery works on his football radio show on Sept. 9. Dery was on his release period to put in extra work for his show.
Calina He
EGG-CELLENT CHEF: Carmel High School Culinary student and senior Abby Vernon whisks an egg while cooking on Sep 6 in the CHS culinary classroom. Vernon said she loves being able to learn something that she knows she will need in the future with teachers who help her understand mistakes.
Veronica Teeter
THE EARTH IS DYING: Junior William Van Horn annotates an article about climate change and prepares to debate about it in AP Seminar on Sept. 4. Van Horn says that so far he really enjoys AP Seminar and prefers it to any of the other English classes he has taken so far.
Shruthi Ravichandran
COMPLEX CIRCUITRY: Seniors Alana Tragesser and Deetya Iyer tinker with their circuit board during their Digital Electronics class on September 16. The circuits were designed to output a signal (a light) every set number of milliseconds. Tragesser said that in the class “they’re learning how to program circuits and [to know] which wires go where.”
Angela Chen
TOURIST TIME: Senior Amanda Durham participates in Tourist Day, which is part of the annual school spirit week leading up to Homecoming. “It’s my last year at CHS, so why not go all out?” she said.
Chloe Sun
AMBIDEXTROUS ARTISTRY: Sophomore Ali Strzynski uses both of her hands to draw the human manifestation of envy during Drawing 3 on Oct. 15. Strzynski said shading was the hardest part of the drawing process, but drawing with two hands helped expedite the process.
Ray Mo
MORNING WAITING: Junior Kehan Wang waits outside the media center in the morning on Oct. 2. Wang said she usually waits outside the library in the morning.
Calina He
EXAM PREP: Gabriel Marshal, senior and IB English student, prepares for her summative "Paper 2" assessment as year 2 IB English students prepare for the IB exam in the spring. Marshal says " IB English is definitely harder this year than last year, we have to write this super long essay about contrasts in poetry." With IB English students' "Paper 2" underway, Mrs. Rhodes will be hosting evening sessions for students to practice an IB "Paper 2" in the coming weeks- look out for those dates!
Lily McAndrews
QUEEN OF HEARTS: Junior Maylee O’Brien plays a round of tongues in her shortened Pre-Calculus class on Sept. 27. O’Brien said that the Green Day schedule is her favorite part of homecoming and she looks forward to it every year.
Shruthi Ravichandran
DANCING THE DAY AWAY: Junior Savannah Kahn dances with friends during the rave held by Mr. Andrews in the E halls to celebrate Homecoming on Sept 27. Kahn said “being able to party with friends and seeing CHS come together for Homecoming always make this day fun.”
Veronica Teeter
OUT OF THIS WORLD: Juniors Eric Lee and Emma Domke show off their school spirit on space themed day of homecoming week, on Sept. 25. On Wednesday of 2019 CHS homecoming week, each class had a different dress-up theme that related to their theme for playhouse building, which took place later that day. Lee, president of the junior class, helped lead playhouse building along with selling Chick-Fil-A earlier that morning for the class competition.
Maddie Kosc
PIANO PRACTICE: Sophomore Caleb Beik improvises a small tune while warming up for a concert practice on October 3. Beik states, “I’ve been playing piano since I was three years old, it’s something that comes natural to me at this point. I love being able to express myself with music”. Beik explains when he has free time during class periods he practices his skills during them.
Thea Bertolini
SPILL THE BEANS: Senior Gabbi Pinegar works at the Carmel Cafe & Market during lunch on October 9. The cafe is run by Carmel DECA and operates during school days from 7:00 to 2:15. Pinegar said, “I like that it gives a real world experience of what it would be like to work at an actual coffee shop, but it’s located here so it’s more relaxed.”
Angela Chen

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In honor of Women’s History Month, teacher, female students share their experiences in science

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