Member Kudos

Mathematics: Several children from 4-6th grade participated in the MCTM math competitions this year. In the regional competition in March 2007, Suryanshi Rawat, placed I and Rohit Rao placed second, in fourth grade concepts and Rothit Rao got an honorable mention in problem solving. Aswath Kumar placed first and Siddharth Yarlagada placed II and Jacob White got an honorable mention in fifthe grade concetpts and Aswath Kumar got II place in problem solving. In sixth grade, Atretyo Ghosh placed first in concepts, Siddharth Goel placed 3rd in problem solving and Vikram Aruncachalam got honorable mention in both categories. All those who got first, second and third places competed in the state finals on April 28th. Aswath Kumar, 5th grade, Ridgeway Elementary won fifth place in Problem solving and 10th place in Concepts in the State MCTM this year. Atreyo Ghosh, 6th grade, Gentry Middle School, won 6th place in concepts and Nikhilesh Sharma, 7th grade, Gentry Middle School won 5th place in State MCTM algebra.

Several other Hickman and Rockbridge High school students competed in GPML ( Great Plains Math League), the high school competition The entire Hickman team qualified for the State competition. Ashok, 10th grade Hickman High School won first place in the sprint and second place in target and first place overall in the State GPML. He also won fifth place 9-12the grades combined. He competed in AMC12 and was invited to compete again in AIME and was the highest scorer in HIckman High School. Ashok also won a silver medal in the USA math talent search in 2006-07.

Science Olympiad: Serveral Middle and High School students participated in the Science Olympiad this academic year. Maya Cutkosky, Maya Ramachandran and Mythily Ramachandran were part of the Smithton team which placed Second in the regionals. Ashok Cutkosky, Adithi Vellore and Meghna Srinath were part of the Hickman team which place first in the regionals and fourth in the State competition. Deb Gangopadhyay, Vidya Mantrala and Sangeetha Sharma were part of the Rockbridge team which won firfth place in the State. Several of the individuals won medals in the regionals. In the statte Meghna Srinath secured 2nd place in Experimental Design and fifth place in Forensics. Adithi Vellore was 1st place in Disease Detectives and 4th place, in Wind Power. Deb Gangopadhyay won 1st place in Chemistry Lab.

Chess: Vikram won 1st place in the Missouri K-6 Chess Championships held in Independence, Missouri, on September 16, 2006. The tournament was sponsored by Missouri Chess Association and the Kansas City Scholastic Chess Association.
In Columbia K-7 open chess tournament held on April 21, Aswath Kumar won first place in 4th and 5th grades and Vikram Arunacahalm won first place in 6th and 7th grades. Rohit Rao is I place in fouth grade , Aishwarya Kumar won first place in 7th grade, Jacob White got third place in 5th grade. Nidhi Khurana won third place in 6th grade.

Music: Maya Cutkosky won third place award in the fine arts category of Creating Original music projecct competition funded by Sinquefield foundation. Her composition of Flute with Piano was performed on April 14 at the Whitmore Recital Hall.

Prerna Srinivasan, Sangitha and Nidhilish Sharma, Ashok and Maya Cutkosky all participated in the National Federation Junior Festival held in Columbia, Missouri in March 2007. Ashok and Maya got Superior in both piano solo and piano conerto and received the gold cup for three years of superior trating. Prerna, Sangeetha and Nikilesh received an excellent rating and are well on their way to getting the gold cup in a couple of years.

Shreyas Srinivasan played in a piano recital in March.

Science : Meghna Srinath was selected as one of the two finalists at the Junior Science, Engineering and Humanities Symposium in St. Louis in March, and will be going to the Nationals in Huntsville, AL in May to present her paper. Meghna Srinath received the top award for her research presentation at the Missouri Academy of Sciences
Writing: Meghna Srinath is a winner of an Achievement Award in Writing from the National Council of Teachers of English. She is one of the three students from Hickman High School and 18 from the state of Missouri to win this writing award in 2006.

PTA Reflections Contest : Naimesh and Nithya Balaji participated in the PTA Reflections contest. Nitrya, preK Fairview elementary won first place in Fairview K-2 photography contest and Naimesh, 1st grade Fairview, won Fifth palce in the the State PTA Film/Video production.
Naimesh also placed First in the Columbia Public Library book mark design contest.

Bal Sabha students were active in competitions and performances throughout the school year. Here is the 2005-2006 Kudos list. Submissions that arrive after the BalSandesh publication deadline will be included on our website.

Math Competitions:
MCTM (Missouri Council of Teachers of Mathematics) runs competitions for fourth through sixth grade problem solving and concepts, seventh grade team and individual competitions, and seventh and eighth grade algebra competitions.

Ashwath, Urmila, Sumeha, Nahosh , Athreyo,, Jacob, Vikram, Arjun, Nikhilesh and Uma all represented their schools in the MCTM and Mathcounts cometitions. Ashwath won third placce in fourth grade in the regionals. Aswath won 8th eplace in the problem solving and 9th place in the concepts in the State Finals.. Arjun won 7th place in the regionals in 7th grade.

Ashok cometed in the Great plains Math league for 9--12 grade and won two second place medals in the individulas and two first place team medlas for Hikchman in the regionals. In the state competition, Ashok won fourth place in the indiividual for 9th grade and first place in the total from Hickman Highschool. Hickman High school team placed 6th in the state. Ashok invited to compte in the American Invtiational Mathematics comptetitions (AIME) and compteted in AIME 2006 as a result of his high score on AMC 12 competition.

Science Olympiad: This year too, many Balsabha members participated in the Science Olympiad from all the middle, junior high and high schools. Maya Cutkosky, Mythily Ramachandran and Manoj Palavalli from Smthton Middle School; Arjun Khurana, Amit Patel, and Reshma Khanna from Gentry middle School; Raj Lal, Sangitha Sharma and Anchal Sethi from Jeff Junior; Adithi Vellor, Ashok Cutkosky and Uma Patterkine from West Junior; Swathi Bhaskaran and Meghna Srinath from Hickman and Sachin and Ajay Nair from CIS, all competed in the Science Olympiad. West Junior won first place, Jeff Junior won third place and Smithon team won fiifth place in the regionals. At the individual level, Ashok won three first place medals and one third place medal.; Adithi won one first place medal and one each of 2nd, 3rd and 4th place medals; Sangitha and Anchal each won one first place medal; Arjun, Manoj and Amit won third place medals; Meghna placed in two events in the Regional level. Ashok, Adithi, Uma, Sangitha, Ajay, Meghna and Swathi all advanced to the state level.
Chess: Vikram Arunachalam, Ashwath Kumar and Nidhi Khurana competed in the Columbia Elementary School Chess Championships. Vikram won first place in the overall 4-5 grade. Aswath won third place in fourth grade and Nidhi won third place in fifth grade. Vikram and Arjun Khurana also competed in the Missouri State level Chess competition nd won third place in 5th grade.

Music: Maya Cutkosky won honorable mention award in the fine arts category of Creating Original music projecct competition funded by Sinquefield foundation. Maya and her school both won $50. Meghna went to the district choir festival and qualified for the state level. Maya Cutksoksy and Mythily Ramachandram both represented Stmthiton at the district choir. Ashok and Maya Cutkosky, Nikhilesh Sharma Uma Pattarkine and Meghna Srinath participated in the National Federation Junior Festival held in Columbia, Missouri in March 2006. All four of them earned "Superior" rating in Piano Solo. Ahok, Maya, and Meghna participated int he Piano Guild and earned superior tatings.

Language Exams and Competions: Meghna placed 5th in the National Spanish Exam, Level 4. Meghna is one of five finalists from Hickman in the National Council of Teachers of English Achievement Awards in Writing competition.

<> Sargam
The Sargam classical music and dance event was held in Whitmore Hall on March 18, 2006. Bal Sabha members who performed included Ashok Cutkosky (piano, East-West quartet), Adithi, Avanthi and Niyathi Ragnekars, Prerna Srinivasan, Maya and Mythily Ramachandran, Vidya Mantrala Uma Patterkine and ...and Meghna Srinath ( Bhharatnatyam) Sumedha and Nahosh Katti ( violin),, Maya Cutrkosky (Caratic vocal and flute East-west quartet) Sangitha Sharma (violin- East-West quartet), Anchal and Anmol Sethi, Ipsa and Trisha Chaudhary, Payal, Shreshtha , Maya Cutkosky, Adithi, Niyathi and Avanthi Rangnekar, Urmila Kuttikkad, Prerna Srinivassan, Rijutha Garimella, Nidhi Khurana and Suryanshi Rawat (group song).

Bal Sabha students were active in competitions and performances throughout the school year. Here is the 2004-05 Kudos list. Submissions that arrive after the BalSandesh publication deadline will be included on our website.

Math Competitions
MCTM (Missouri Council of Teachers of Mathematics) runs competitions for fourth through sixth grade problem solving and concepts, seventh grade team and individual competitions, and seventh and eighth grade algebra competitions.
<> Sajal Kantha from Fairview Elementary, and Vikram Arunachalam from Mill Creek Elementary participated in MCTM.
Sajal won the fourth place in Concepts in the regional competition. Vikram won second place in both the concepts and problem solving in regional competition and advanced to the state level.

In the MathCounts competition, Ashok Cutkosky, Adithi Vellore from West Junior High, Sangitha Sharma from Jeff Junior, and Arjun from Gentry Middle School participated. Ashok was on the West Junior team which won first place in the regional and in the state. Sangitha was on the Jeff Junior team which won second place in the regionals and in the state. In the individual competition, Ashok tied for the first place in the regionals and Adithi won eighth place in the regionals and both qualified for the State at the individual level.

American Mathematics Competitions are national competitions which run contests in 8th, 10th and 12th grades. In the 8th grade ( AMC (8)),
Ashok Cutkosky from West Junior won the winner pin for top school score and was awarded the national AMC8 honor roll certificate.

Science Olympiad
Hickman High school won first place in the regional competition in Rolla and fifth place in the state-level competition at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The 15-person team included seven students of Indian origin; Anita, Arthi, Meghna, Indu, Rajni, Sunny and Swathi.

The West Junior High School team, which included Ashok and Adithi and won first place in the regionals. At the State level, Ashok won first place in Road Scholar and third place in Compute This.

Gentry Middle School tram included Arjun, Amit and Raj.
As part of the Columbia Independent School team, Ajay won second place in Reach for stars in the state competition.

Chess: Vikram Arunachalam, Ashwath Kumar and Nikhilesh Sharma competed in the Columbia Elementary School Chess Championships. Vikram won first place in the overall 3-5 grade. Nikhilesh won fourth place in the 5th grade and was part of the Ridgeway Team which won First place. Vikram also competed in the Missouri State level Chess competition nd won second place in 5th grade.

Music: Ashok Cutkosky competed in the MMTA ( Missouri Music Teacher Association) Piano competition at the regional level and advanced to the state level. Ashok won rating 1 at the regional and third place in the state. Maya Cutkosky, Nikhilesh Sharma and Sangitha Sharma, Uma Pattarkine participated in the National Federation Junior Festival held in Columbia, Missouri in March 2005. All four of them earned "Superior" rating in Piano Solo. If you get a superior rating 3 times, you won a gold cup. Uma won a gold cup in 2005. Congratulations to these Pianists!

Language Exams: Sangitha , Ashok, Arthi, took the National Spanish exams in 2004-2005. At the level 1, Ashok won 1st place in the chapter ( regional ) and sixth place in the state and Sangitha won 3rd place in the chapter and 8th place in the state. Aarthi won first place in the chapter and third place in the state at the level 5. the level .

Reflections Contest: Uma Pattarkine from Smithton Middle school won second place at Smithton in music composition and received recognition at the state level.

<> Sargam
The Sargam classical music and dance event was held in Whitmore Hall on March 13, 2005. Bal Sabha members who performed included Sumidha and Rijutha (Bharata Natyam), Ashok (piano), Sahana (Carnatic vocal) Meghna ( Bharata Natyam), and Indu and Rajni (violin and Bharata Natyam), Sangitha (Carnatic Vocal and Bharata Natyam), Adithi ( Bharata Natyam), Ajay ( Carnatic Vocal) Maya ( Carnatic Vocal).

<>Graduation honors: Nikhilesh Sharma won 2004-2005 Prinicpal's award at Ridgeway Elementary for all round achievement in "academics, sportsmanship, citizenship and effort".
Maya Cutkosky from Fairview Elementary won the 2004-2005 Creativity award for the fifth graders.
Maya Cutkosky from Fairview Elementary won the Presidential Award based on the national test scores in language and Mathematics taken by all the fifth graders.

Sangitha Sharma, Ashok Cutkosky and Adithi Vellore were all selected for the National Junior Honor Society in eighth grade.

Bal Sabha students were active in competitions and performances throughout the school year. Here is the 2003-04 Kudos list. Submissions that arrive after the BalSandesh publication deadline will be included on our website.

Ashok participated from the Smithton team and individual competitions in MCTM. Ashok won a second place trophy in the regional individual competition and advanced to the state level.

Arjun, Amit, and Aditya from Ridgeway Elementary, Sajal from Fairview Elementary, and Sachin from CIS Schools were chosen to represent their schools in the MCTM regional competitions. Sajal won the fifth place ribbon in fourth grade Concepts in the regional competition. Aditya won the fourth place ribbon in fourth grade problem-solving and second place ribbon in fourth grade concepts in the regionals and advanced to the state level. Arjun won the fourth place ribbon in fifth grade Concepts and fifth place ribbon in fifth grade Problem Solving in the regional competition.

In the MathCounts competition, Ashok and Adithi participated in the MathCounts team and individual competitions. Their Smithton team won fourth place in the regionals. Ashok qualified in the top ten to go to the state level. Ashok placed seventh in the state MathCounts finals in the individual level.

ACT College Entrance Examination
Arthi earned a perfect composite score of 36 in the American College Testing (ACT) examination, a college entrance examination used by many US universities.

DECA
Arthi placed first place at DECA District competition, first place at DECA State competition, and second place at DECA International competition at Nashville, TN, Apparel and Accessories Marketing, Management Level. She received an award plaque and a check for $500. Also at the DECA Internationals at Nashville, Arthi received the Event High Score Award in Management.

Debate
Arthi received the Outstanding Varsity Debater of the Year, Outstanding (Lincoln-Douglass) LD Debater of the Year, and Outstanding Congressperson of the Year Awards from the Hickman Debate Club. She is also the East Missouri National Forensic League District’s fist alternate to National Congress from the Senate.

Arthi’s other Debate Tournament awards during the year include second, fourth, and fourth place awards in Varsity/Champ LD debate (Clayton, Pattonville, and Parkway Central, respectively); Congress Outstanding Speaker Award (Parkway Central); second place in Poetry and third place in Radio (Mexico and Jeff City, respectively); first place LD Debate and first place Radio, (both MSHSAA Districts Competition, State Qualifier).

Arthi was First Alternate to Nationals from the Senate at the East MO National Forensic League District Competition.

Science Olympiad
Hickman High school won first place in the regional competition in Rolla (Feb 04) and fifth place in the state-level competition at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The 15-person team included seven students of Indian origin; Aditya, Anita, Arthi, Indu, Rajni, Sunny and Swathi. In the regional competition, the team won first place medals for Disease Detectives (Arthi and Indu), Mission Possible (Indu, Rajni and Anita), Experimental Design (Arthi Rajni, and Sunny), Science of Fitness (Arthi), Astronomy (Aditya and Rajni), second place for Sounds of Music (Indu and Sunny), fourth in Qualitative Analysis (Aditya and Indu).

In the state competition, Hickman won second place for Science of Fitness (Arthi), third place for Mission Possible (Indu, Rajni and Anita), third place for Astronomy (Aditya and Rajni), and fourth place in Experimental Design (Arthi and Anita).

The West Junior High School team, which included Meghna, won fourth place in regionals. Meghna won second place in Science of Fitness and 4th in Road Scholar.

The Smithton Middle School team included Adithi and Ashok. Adithi took first place in Picture This, second place in Experimental Design and fourth place in Bridge Building at the Regional Science Olympiad. Ashok won the first place medal in Write It Do It.

As part of the Columbia Independent School team, Ajay won second place in Picture This and second place in Reach for the Stars in the Regional competition.

Mock Trial
Arthi, Indu, and Rajni were part of Hickman High School’s seven-member Mock Trial competition team that took first place in the Central Region Mock Trial (State qualifier).

Girls State
Arthi was one of four students selected from Hickman to participate in the Girls State Program, a one-week summer Government Leadership Academy sponsored by the American Legion. The simulation of local, county and state governments, including judicial, legislative and executive branch operations brings together girls from all parts of Missouri for leadership training.

National History Day
Meghna, along with two other group members, made an exhibit in the Senior Division of the competition. The title of their project was "Harlem Jazz: The Encounter and Exchange of People and Music." In the regional competition, Meghna's group placed first, advancing to State. At the State level, their group got 1st place again. They will be going to Maryland in June for the National Competition. Out of the 2,000 students in Missouri who competed in regional competitions around the state, Meghna is one of 48 delegates going to the national competition.

NCTE Writing Competition
This year, Anita Sadhu and Indu Chandrasekhar were two of five among the five students chosen to represent Hickman in the national NCTE competition.

National Language Exams
Vidya placed first in the State in Level I for Spanish. Arthi placed third in the State in Level IV for Spanish. Indu and Rajni both placed 11 th in the State in Level V for French.

Music Competitions
Ajay was in a choir ensemble that achieved a superior rating at the MSHAA district competition, qualified for state, and achieved a superior rating at state. Meghna is one of six students who was selected from West Junior High for the 2004 MCDA Missouri Youth Honor Summer Choir, an All-State Youth Honor Choir.

Rajni and Indu both participated in the District and State Music Festivals for high school students with violin solos and a string quartet. Both received “ Superior” ratings at Districts and “Excellent” ratings at State.

Sargam
The Sargam classical music and dance event was held in Whitmore Hall on March 14, 2004. Bal Sabha members who performed included Sumidha and Rijutha (Bharata Natyam), Ashok (piano), Sahana (Carnatic vocal) Meghna (Carnatic vocal and Bharata Natyam), and Indu and Rajni (violin and Bharata Natyam).

Sangita Sharma and her partner Molly Chann qualified for the State finals at the National History Day Regional competition held on Feb. 22, 2003 at Jefferson City. At the State finals on Apr. 12th, their documentary titled "Immigration Through the Ages" won a special award, the Missouri German Heritage Prize. Sangita also received 8th place in Concepts and an Honorable MentionAt the MCTM Regional contest held on Apr. 12, 2003 at Centralia.

Maya Cutkosky played in the holiday piano recital in December 2002 in Berkeley, CA and played Dance by Kabalevsky in an April piano recital in Columbia. Maya participated in the Pongal celeberations in the play.

Ashok Cutkosky participated in Math Counts competition in the individuals and also as alternate for the Smithton Team. He participated in MCTM math competitions for 6th grade. He won First place in problem solving and First place in Cocepts in the regionals held in Centralia and Third place in Concepts in the State Finals held in Columbia.
Ashok played Piano in the Sargam program of the Cultural Association of Inida. He played Mazurka in F major by Chopin, Rara venu gopala in Bilihari, Victory Dance by Bennett and a Little prelude in F major Bach. Earlier in March, he played in the Music Fest, Piano recitals in the Columbia Mall.Meghna Srinath won the West Jr. High School Spelling Bee, and participated in the Tribune's Regional Spelling Bee. She was also on the West Jr. High MathCounts team, which took part at the regional competition.Aditya Srinath was on the Hickman GPML (Great Plains Math League)Competition team, which won second place team in the State level competition. He also took first place in Practical Data Gathering and first place in Dynamic Planet at this year's Science Olympiad Regionals.

Payal Khengar participated in the 6th annual regional tournament, "Only the Strong Dragon Tournament" open to all states sponsored by Sears ATA Black Belt Academy, Blue Springs, MO, on 27th April 2002. She won the first place trophy for the block one championship for

"forms" and third place trophy for "sparring." This was her first competition.

Ronak R. Patel (third grader at Cedar Ridge Elementary, pictured on right) received his Black Belt 1st Degree on Feb 27th 2002 and is currently working on his 2nd Degree Belt. He attended an American Taekwondo Championship Tournament competition in Jefferson City on March 23rd 2002 and came home with a Trophy for 1st in a class of 12 for perfect FORM demonstration.

Ashok Cutkosky recieved a 1 (one) rating in the district audition last year and so gave an Regional honors recital in early Fall. He subsequently went to the state Auditions in Springfield, Missouri in November 8-11 2001 and was awarded a medal with 1 (one) rating. He played pieces by Chopin and Haydn in this competition. Since then he also played at the charity recital in the Columbia Mall.Ashok Cutkosky, Aditi Vellore and Natasha Vengurlekar (all from Ridgeway Elementary) participated in the math competition held by MCTM ( Missouri Council of Teachers of Mathematics) as State level finalists. Ashok Cutkosky won two Ribbons with Sixth place in Concepts and Ninth place in Problem Solving. Adithi Vellore's poem entitled "It Doesn't Matter" was selected for publication in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Diversity Breakfast 2002 program booklet.

Meghna Srinath placed first in the Literature section of the 2002 Reflections contest from Smithton Middle School. Her submission, a short story, was sent to the State level of this competition. Meghna was one of 11 students selected from Smithton Middle School for the All-State Youth Missouri Honors Choir.

Arthi Vellore's accomplishments in 2001-2002 include 3^rd place in the Veterans Day Essay Contest; 1^st place in Hispanic Heritage Month Poster Contest; 4^th place in the nation (individual) in the Current Events League; 1^st in state in fall and spring, and 5^th nationally (spring round) as part of the West Junior High Knowledge Masters team; 1^st place at West Junior High, 5^th place in senior high division at state competition at the Reflections Visual Arts Contest; 1^st place in region, 3^rd place in the nation in the National Spanish Exam; 1^st place as part of the Hickman team at the MU Chemistry Day Competition.

Indu Chandrasekhar's accomplishments in 2002 include 3^rd place in the state in the National French Exam. Indu's artwork was also selected for the Shelter Insurance Holiday Card Design Contest 2001, for which she received a $100 savings bond.Rajni Chandrasekhar placed 6^th in the state in the National French Exam.

Science Olympiad: The West Junior High School team won first place at regionals and tied for eighth place in the state level competition. The team included ninth graders Arthi Vellore, Rajni Chandrasekhar, Indu Chandrasekhar, Aditya Srinath, and Helen Chamberlain and several eighth graders. Students also received individual medals / ribbons for several events. At Regionals they won 1^st place for Can't Judge a Powder by its Color (Arthi and Indu); 1^st place for Experimental Design (Arthi, Rajni, Helen); 2^nd place for Life Science Process Lab (Arthi and Helen); 2^nd place for Rocks and Minerals (Arthi and Helen); 2^nd place for Science Crime Busters (Indu and Arthi); 3^rd place for Mission Possible (Rajni and Indu); 5^th place for Water Quality (Aditya). At State they won 1^st place for Science Crime Busters (Indu and Arthi); 2^nd place for Can't Judge a Powder by its Color (Indu and Arthi); 3^rd place for Life Science Process Lab (Arthi and Helen) and 5^th place for Compute This (Aditya).

Regional and State Science Fairs (Missouri Academy of Sciences): The Regional competition was held at Jefferson City, March 22: Indu Chandrasekhar, Rajni Chandrasekhar, Anand Palaniappan, and Kanna Palaniappan were among the students who presented their science projects. All of them won first place ribbons. Kanna and Indu qualified for the State level. At the State competition in Springfield on April 19-20, Indu got one of two awards from the American Chemical Society for the best Chemistry project. Kanna placed to go on to the final round, where he was judged one of two winners. He will go on to present his project at the National level.

Music Festivals: At the Fayette Music Festival, Indu and Rajni Chandrasekhar were part of a violin quartet that played a composition by Telemann, for which they received a score of "one minus;" as part of the West Junior High orchestra they played "Capriccio Espagnol" by Rimsky-Korsakov and received a rating of "one plus." At the District Music Festival in Mexico, MO on March 22, the quartet received a score of "one." At the Jefferson City Music Festival they played the Telemann violin quartet and a violin duet by Mozart, and received scores of "one plus." At State Music Festival at MU on April 25, their quartet received a rating of "two."

Destination Imagination: The seven-member West Junior High team included Anand Palaniappan and Aditya Srinath. They placed 1^st in the regional competition at Rock Bridge High School, and 3^rd in the state competition in Joplin, Missouri. In addition, they won the "da Vinci" award for the most creative plot in the Instant Challange part of the competition.

Regional Botball Robotics Tournament in Oklahoma City on Feb 23: Sagar Vengurlekar was part of a six-member team from Smithton, West Junior, and Gentry schools. Sagar's team won the 2nd place award for their performance in the morning session, and the award for the best design of their robot in the overall performance.

First Lego League Tournament in Arkansas attended by teams from 50 states: Sagar and his team (Columbia Robotics Team) was ranked first after the morning session of three rounds of competition. The team was one of two Missouri teams competing for the final match, but lost to a team from Rolla. The Columbia Robotics Team won the 2nd place award for overall performance and 1st place award for Creativity.

Missouri Council of Teachers of Mathematics (MCTM) competition, Elementary and Middle School levels:
Regional Level: Ashok Cutkosky, Ajay Nair, and Sagar Vengurlekar from Ridgeway Elementary School competed in this event. Ajay placed first in fifth grade Concepts and third in fifth grade Problem Solving; Ashok placed first in fourth grade Concepts and first in fourth grade in Problem Solving.

State Level: Ashok Cutkosky placed sixth in fourth grade Concepts and eighth in fourth grade Problem Solving; Ajay Nair placed ninth in fifth grade Concepts.

DARE Graduation:Aditi Vellore placed first from fourth grade, and Sagar Vengurlekar placed first in fifth grade from Ridgeway Elementary School.Columbia Middle School Math Contest: January 2001, The Smithton Middle School team, which included Meghna Srinath, placed first in the competition.National Language Exams (level 1A, for students in their second year of language study):

Spanish: Arthi Vellore placed second at the regional level (western district, Columbia to Kansas City) and second at the state level.

French Indu Chandrasekhar placed seventh nationally and second at the state level. Rajni Chandrasekhar placed fifth at the state level

Destination Imagination, a EEE sponsored Creative Thinking program (formerly part of Odyssey of the Mind). In the Triplicity event students have to build a structure and weave a play around it. For Middle School, Junior High and High School students:

Regional Level: Aditya Srinath and Anand Palaniappan were on the team of six students that placed first in the Middle School/Junior High division; Arthi Vellore was on the team of four students that placed third in the high school division.

State level: Aditya Srinath and Anand Palaniappan were on the team that placed second (Middle School / Jr. Hi); Arthi Vellore was on the team that placed third (Jr. Hi / High School).

MathCounts (Junior High):
Regional level:The West Junior High team, among them Anand Palaniappan, Aditya Srinath, and Arthi Vellore placed first as a team. Anand placed first, Aditya third and Arthi tenth in individual events. Arthi was seventh in the countdown round.

State Level:
The West Junior High team placed fourth, and Anand placed fifth individually. He will be an alternate for the National competition.

Science Olympiad (Level B, 6-9 grade):
Regional Level:
The West Junior High team which included Aditya Srinath, Arthi Vellore, Indu Chandrasekhar, Rajni Chandrasekhar, Sunny Kantha, and Vaishnavi Pallavalli placed fourth. Several of these young students received medals for individual events. The placement also qualified them for the State competition.

Elk's Lodge (Boone County Chapter) Essay Contest, "Why I am proud to be an American":Indu Chandrasekhar placed first, and will be awarded a $100 savings bond. She has promised to give us all a treat (when her bond matures in thirty years!)

Bal Sabha children sang the Indian and American National Anthems, accompanied on the keyboard by Aditya Srinath and on the violin by Arthi Vellore, Indu and Rajni Chandrasekhar, Sivagami Balaketishwaren, Lavanya and Vaishnavi Palavalli, and Anand Palaniappan.

Vande Maataram, a dance choreographed by Vineesha Arelli was performed by Sangita Sharma, Veena and Sonia Vignale, Sneha Kantha, Natasha Vengurlekar, Adithi Vellore, Debbie Saha, and Meghna Srinath. A Journey to Vikramaditya's Court (a play directed by Hema Srinivasan): Time Traveler: Ashok Cutkosky; Maha Bhaladhikari : Sheila Lal; Bhaladhikari: Aswat Senthilkumar; Nikhilesh Sharma and Raj Lal; Kalidasa: Ajay Nair; AryaBhatta: Aditya Trivedi; Brahmagupta: Nahush Katti; Varahamihira: Mihir Trivedi; Bhartruhari: Arjun Khurana; Magha: Riaz Helfer; VagBhatta: Raj Lal; Bharavi: Sumidha Katti; Vasubandhu: Nikhilesh Sharma; Dignaga: Nidhi Khurana; FaHien: Sachin Nair; Panini: Amit Patel; Amarsimh: Akshu; Maharaja Vikramaditya: Sagar Vengulekar; Queen DhruvaSwamini: Maya Cutkosky.

Pongal(January 2001): Ashwath Senthilkumar, Ashok Cutkosky, Maya Cutkosky, Vellore S. Adithi Vellore S. Arthi, Anand Palaniappan.

Sargam (March 2001): Indu and Rajni Chandrasekhar (violin and vocal, Hindustani Classical music).

Ugadi (April 2001): Niyati, Avanti and Aditi Rangnekar, Nahush and Sumidha Katti (shloka); Aditya and Meghna Srinath, Sheela Lal, Ajay Nair (vocal); Indu and Rajni Chandrasekhar (violin, dance); Niyati Rangnekar, Sangita Sharma, and Sumidha Katti (dance).

Violin Recital
(April 2001): Arthi and Adithi Vellore, Sagar and Natasha Vengurlekar, Indu and Rajni Chandrasekhar, Sivagami Balakethiswaren.

2001 Graduates:
Several alums and current members of Bal Sabha graduate this year. Congratulations to all of them!
Reena Jashnani graduated from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) with a B.A. in Psychology.
Sunita Batchu and Ansuman Satpathy graduated from Rock Bridge High School; Runjhun Mishra, Sarita Komatireddy and Lavanya Pallavalli graduated from Hickman High School.