Smartboard April 15, 2024

Margaret O'Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican
·3 min read

Apr. 14—LANL Foundation announces 2024 scholarship winners

The LANL Foundation on Wednesday announced its 2024 LANL Scholars, which includes 128 students from Northern New Mexico pursuing bachelor's degrees.

The foundation's scholarships range from $1,000 for a single year to $20,000 over four years, with recipients selected based on academic achievement, leadership and service to their community.

The 2024 Gold Scholarship recipients, who will receive $20,000 for their undergraduate educations, are:

* Svetlana Backhaus of Calvert Academy, a self-described "unapologetic math geek" who plans to pursue a degree in computer or data science with an emphasis in machine learning.

* Daniel Kim of Los Alamos High School, a former intern at Los Alamos National Labs and many-time STEM award winner who plans to pursue a degree in electrical engineering.

* Arial Maldonado of Escalante High School, a former NASA intern, recipient of numerous national STEM awards and the only female student selected to complete in a MathCounts competition — in which she scored highest on her team — who plans to pursue a degree in mathematics.

'Hilltalkers' qualify for national tournament

Eight students from Los Alamos High School's Hilltalkers Speech and Debate team qualified to compete in the National Speech and Debate Association's nationwide tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, in June.

"Our student Hilltalkers have been working hard to rebuild our program post Covid, and their hard work is reflected in our outstanding results," said Head Coach Margo Batha in a news release.

Qualifying participants include Uxue Sansinena in Lincoln-Douglas debate; Emily Xu in humorous interpretation; Lin Wolf in program oral interpretation; Zoe Bent, Luke Favorite and Maximus Posada in congressional debate; and Carina Lanier and Minhtet Htoon in World Schools debate.

Applications open for FBI Teen Academy

The FBI is accepting applications now for its 2024 Teen Academy, which which will be held July 17-19 at the FBI's Albuquerque field office.

The academy offers high schoolers a glimpse inside the modern FBI, with presentations and activities on investigative tactics, terrorism, cybercrime and SWAT.

Applications will be accepted through May 24. For more information and applications, visit fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/albuquerque/community-outreach or contact AQ.Outreach@fbi.gov.

New Mexico Military Institute announces finalist for new superintendent

The New Mexico Military Institute Board of Regents earlier this month announced a list of five finalists for the institute's next president and superintendent.

The chosen candidate will assume the position starting in the 2024-25 school year, taking the reins from retired Maj. Gen. Jerry Grizzle, who has served in the role since July 2009.

The five finalists are:

* Retired Brig. Gen. Jack Fox, a 1966 graduate of the New Mexico Military Institute and former cabinet secretary of New Mexico's Department of Veterans Services.

* Retired Maj. Gen. Viet Luong, who, after a 34-year career in the U.S. Army, currently serves as the chief operating officer of OrthoMed Anesthesia in Addison, Texas.

* Brig. Gen. Voris McBurnette, current commandant of the Join Forces Staff College at the National Defense University in Norfolk, Virginia, and commanding general of the 100th Training Division.

* David Olwell, dean of the school of engineering at Saint Martin's University in Washington and former faculty at the Naval Postgraduate School in California.

* Retired Maj. Gen. Sean Swindell, who, before his recent retirement, held the position of Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for G-3/5/7, a division of the Non-commissioned Officer Leadership Center of Excellence responsible for institutional planning and managing programs.