Our Wildwood, Winter 2018, Volume 42

Connor S. ’19 Eleventh grader Connor S. was named a Young Center California Youth Ambassador by the organization’s staff and Board of Directors. The congratulatory letter stated, “Connor’s selection was based on his academic merit, leadership ability, moral character, and service to humanity.” He will travel to Sacramento to meet with state lawmakers and education officials and propose ways to improve California’s public education system.

Amandla Stenberg ’16 Alumna Amandla Stenberg was named to the Forbes 2018 “30 Under 30” list. The announcement read, “The entertainment industry is on the brink of seismic change. As former power players crumble under sexual misconduct allegations that have rocked the business, new voices are poised to present the stories Tinseltown has long left untold. Enter Amandla Stenberg, the 19-year-old actor-author who is among those leading Hollywood’s new consciousness.” Amandla joins Wildwood alum Jeffrey Ponchick ’05, who was on the list last year for his groundbreaking work in the music industry.

Toochi B. ’20 Tenth grader Toochi B. received a Student Travel Award from the Research and Education Cooperative Occultation Network (RECON) to attend its 2017 meeting in Sunriver, Oregon. He represented Wildwood and joined attendees from 50-plus RECON communities for a two-and-half-day meeting. Toochi is one of only 12 students to receive the award. RECON is a citizen science research project aimed at exploring the outer solar system. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Astronomical Sciences, the project involves teachers, students, amateur astronomers, and community members from across the Western United States to conduct coordinated telescope observations . to measure the size of objects from a region called . the Kuiper Belt.

Joe Wise WILDWOOD INSTITUTE FOR STEM RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (WISRD) DIRECTOR Joe Wise received an Award of Appreciation from JPL for his leadership on the Dawn Mission Education and Public Outreach team. Joe served as the lead for the team for 16 years and participated in writing the original proposal to NASA that was approved in 2001. The Dawn Mission launched in 2007 orbiting Vesta and Ceres each for a year. The spacecraft is still at work, in its second extended mission collecting data at Ceres. WW