SpringLight believes that involving our students in high achieving academic competitions allows them to push themselves to the limits. We are involved in Olympiad competitions in 6 different academic areas: Physics (USA Physics Olympiad, USAPhO), Computer Science (USA Computing Olympiad, USACO), Biology (USA Biology Olympiad, USABO), Chemistry (US National Chemistry Olympiad), Linguistics (North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad, NACLO), and Math (AMC 8/10/12, AIME, MathCounts).
For USAPhO, 2 students made the training camp for the US team, and both were admitted to MIT, Stanford, and other top schools. More than half of our students qualified for semifinals, and in the finals. Twenty students received awards from honorable mention to gold.
In USACO, one student entered the US team of the top 24 students. All of our students who completed all their coursework made at least the silver level, going up to gold and platinum.
We also saw large successes in USABO, with another two students in the top 20 nationally, entering the training camp for the US team. One student achieved this in 2014 and 2015, and has been admitted to MIT, Brown, Stanford, and more. Another student entered this year, and only took courses online with us. Half of students this year qualified for semifinals, with our lowest scoring student at around the 80% percentile nationally. The Center for Excellence in Education, which runs USABO, recognized SpringLight for our accomplishments.
In Chemistry, seven students trained at SpringLight, one of whom entered top 150 nationally, and four placed at the county level, which only had 16 slots.
The NACLO linguistics competition was offered for the first time by SpringLight this year, with one of our students placing in the top 4 of the national team of 8. This student is the only one student from California, and will compete at the International Linguistics Olympiad in July. We have also had large successes in math. Every year, at least 10 students advance onto the intermediate level AIME contest, and several of these students move onto the final round of USAMO and USAJMO contest as well.
SpringLight also holds training for the Department of Energy’s Science Bowl. Students from schools such as Miller Middle School and Lynbrook High School are taught by the captains of Lynbrook High School. This year, the team of Miller and Lynbrook won 1st and 2nd place, respectively, in their divisions. For the Physics Bowl contest that is trained and held at SpringLight, our team has received 3rd place in regional division 1 in 2014 and 3rd place national division 1 in 2015 and 2016. Association of American Physics Teacher (AAPT) recognized SpringLight’s achievement.
We also help our students find research opportunities and internships. Through our connections to the community, university, and tech companies, our students have been able to obtain research at Stanford, and internships at many startup high tech companies. Many of our students also intern and volunteer at nonprofits, such as the Foster Family Association and Teen Challenge, and help teach underrepresented youth. Our students are also invited to present at events hosted by local newspapers.
The mentorship program that we provide also helps to bring about change in the families of our students, helping improve relationships between parents and their children. Here are two quotes from parents and students we have helped:
● “Your love and welcoming, your belief in him and encouragement, has helped him smile again and repair his relationship with me, his mother.”
● “From the opportunities you have helped me find, you have helped me become selfless, strong, and humble.”
