Tag: high school

  • Lexington teen earns $90,000 scholarship at national science and math competition

    Lexington teen earns $90,000 scholarship at national science and math competition

    Jerry Xu is pictured with his project poster at the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2026. / Credit: Regeneron Science Talent Search

    Lexington High School senior Jerry Xu believes that science can be approached in two ways. The first is through a textbook; the second is by making it come to life around you.

    Xu, 17, chose the second path. On March 10, he earned a $90,000 scholarship for placing fifth at the Regeneron Science Talent Search, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science research competition for high school seniors. Xu created an Artificial Intelligence model that compares the three-dimensional structure of proteins, the molecules that build and repair tissue in the human body. From more than 2,000 applicants, judges selected him as one of 40 finalists to present independent research at the Regeneron Science Talent Institute in Washington, D.C.

    Genetic and medical researchers compare protein structures to understand how molecules function. Small variations in shape can alter a protein’s behavior and trigger disease. Xu’s tool reduced the time needed to analyze proteins from hours to minutes by converting them into correlated numerical patterns of the same size, rather than the current methods, which compare proteins of different sizes.

    Xu’s finish in the Regeneron competition is the highlight of a high school career defined by accomplishment. Last October, he led a team that created an AI chatbot that answers questions about the Lexington High School building project. He co-founded a summer lecture series that teaches biology and math to students of all ages, tutored programming students at the KTBYTE academy in Burlington, and captained the Lexington High School Science Bowl team to a regional championship.

    “I think that as a high schooler, using [science] in my community is one of the easiest and most impactful ways for me to apply my knowledge,” Xu said. “I’m really grateful that the town of Lexington is willing to accept me and try to guide me towards designing these products that are going to help the community.”

    ​Xu devoted the past year to researching, developing and coding his model through the MIT PRIMES Program, a year-long curriculum that offers research resources to high school students in the Boston area under the mentorship of Dr. Gil Alterovitz and Dr. Shaojun Pei, both of Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

    “One thing that really struck me is [Jerry’s] passion, his ability to think about things deeply and think about how to explore things at a deep level,” Alterovitz said. 

    Xu hopes researchers and scientists will use his tool to improve protein genetic analysis. He plans to continue working on the model after the competition.

    “There’s a couple of ideas that I have for my project. One of them is to expand the scale of my model,” he said. “There’s a lot of different directions that I want to explore with this project before I head off to college.”

    Xu plans to use the $90,000 scholarship toward college. He’s considering the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, Yale University, and other schools. Before he makes his decision, Xu will prepare for the National Science Bowl in April and his approaching high school graduation. 

    This story was written by a journalism student in BU’s Newsroom program, a partnership between the university, The Lexington Observer and other news organizations in the Boston area.

  • Lexington students launch civics program to connect youth, politicians

    From left to right: Kevin Chen, Grette Buttner and Rajvir Kalra gather at the Isaac Harris Cary Memorial Building, where they will host the first LexYouthCivics conference Saturday / Photo courtesy of Raluca Buttner

    Grette Buttner wanted a firsthand look at how her town government worked. She searched for school clubs and programs that would let her connect directly with elected officials and ask about local issues. When she couldn’t find one, The Winsor School junior started LexYouthCivics, a first-of-its-kind initiative that introduces Lexington high school students to the inner workings of local government. 

    “Establishing a base-level knowledge about how our town government works is our primary and fundamental goal,” Buttner said. “Some people don’t have that knowledge which, to me, is quite alarming.” 

    Lexington High School students Rajvir Kalra, Anya Sawant and Kevin Chen joined Buttner as project organizers. 

    Buttner came to their school looking for a team of students to collaborate with her on LexYouthCivics. “At the time she just had a name and a vague idea,” Kalra said. “She was looking for students who were interested in civics and town government … to create this event for students to participate in.”

    Kalra said that he was interested in public service but struggled to find a way to get involved in local government. Though his school offered clubs like Model UN and Mock Debate, he wanted a tangible way to gain experience and talk directly to officials in an open setting before going off to college.

    “That’s why I’m super passionate about joining LexYouthCivics and making it a reality,” he said. “I feel very deeply connected to this event.” 

    Together, the students developed a conference-style program. The four-hour event, which takes place at Cary Hall on Feb. 28,  event brings together local government officials, community leaders and high school students for an interactive day of learning about town government and civic engagement. Kalra said they expect Saturday’s event to draw 250 students. 

    The group spent months going door-to-door to local businesses, seeking sponsorships and hanging posters. In the end, the Lexington Youth Commission, Lexington League of Women Voters and Center Goods agreed to help finance the event. Lexington High School also agreed to allow the event to count toward students’ required community service hours. 

    “We really want to emphasize to students that it is important, especially within this political climate, to understand how you can be involved in making change within your own society,” Kalra said. 

    Buttner said she hopes the event will remind students about the ways civic participation can shape their lives and communities. “I want to remind students, ‘You should have political power,’” she said. “You should have the opportunity to sway policy and contribute to your town.”

    The event will run from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and feature a series of workshops, including a mock town meeting. Four speakers are scheduled: Select Board Member Jill Hai, Town Moderator Deborah Brown, Dominic Bronico, Pastor of Connections and Young Adults at Grace Chapel, and state Rep. Michelle Ciccolo. 

    Kalra said he is especially excited to hear from Ciccolo. “She obviously has so much experience in town and now the state government,” he said. “She’s someone that students don’t really have access to on a normal day.” 

    Ciccolo represents the 15th Middlesex District of Massachusetts, which includes parts of Woburn and Winchester, along with Lexington. In the legislature, she focuses on issues such as environmental sustainability, public health and education equity. 

    “It’s a really exciting initiative,” Ciccolo said. “I spent the first 25 years of my career in local government, and I very much appreciate the tangible and immediate impact that serving at the local level has. You can see the results of your work, and it’s much easier to understand how democracy works and how you can individually have a real, profound impact.” 

    Ciccolo said more money should be invested in civics education. Massachusetts has taken steps to strengthen it, including a 2018 law requiring student-led civics projects and promoting high school voter registration. Still, just 39% of eighth-graders met grade-level standards on the state’s first civics Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System in 2025. 

    “When we don’t teach civics, I think it raises residents and citizens to have less faith in their government and they don’t feel the moral obligation and responsibility to give back,” Ciccolo said. “That’s not good for democracy.” 

    Only 27% of registered voters participated in last year’s town election, up from 9% in 2023. That year, 80% of voters were older than 50. 

    Buttner said she hopes the event will encourage eligible students to vote in future elections and become more involved in Lexington. “We want students to be aware of what’s happening in the town,” she said. “Whether that means just going to the library or joining the Lexington Youth Commission.” 

    Looking ahead, Buttner and Kalra hope to expand LexYouthCivics. Buttner envisions a program that meets regularly to discuss local issues that affect students directly.  

    “I see LexYouthCivics … integrated into the Lexington consciousness and into the Lexington civic landscape,” she said. “I really hope it remains even when I eventually depart and go to college.” 

    Students may register for the event at: https://www.lexyouthcivics.org. 

    This story was written by a journalism student in BU’s Newsroom program, a partnership between the university, The Lexington Observer and other news organizations in the Boston area.

  • Newton North scribes take to the stage for the 18th Annual Playwrights’ Festival

    Theatre Ink ‘s 17th Annual Playwrights’ Festival, Newton North High School, June 7th, 2025 – Photo by Elizabeth Plese

    The ambient lighting dims, and a spotlight shines on three distinct characters in front of a dystopian backdrop, as a night of world-molding drama and comedy begins. 

    Newton North High School’s 18th Annual Playwrights’ Festival, presented at the school Thursday through Saturday, showcased eight plays created entirely by the students.

    Each play was a 10-minute, one-scene act covering concepts ranging from grappling with queer identity to finding existential purpose, with sets spanning from a Louisiana hair salon to a spaceship floating about the cosmos.

    “This is one of the most unique productions in terms of being student-written and student-directed,” said Michael Barrington-Haber, a theater teacher at Newton North and the technical director for Theater Ink, the school’s teaching working theater that prizes inclusion and cooperation.

    “We have student designers who do the lights, the set, the sound, the costumes, the hair, the makeup, the props,” Barrington-Haber said. “It’s all student-run.” He has been a part of Theater Ink for 21 years and has contributed to the playwrights’ festival since its inception 18 years ago.

    “It all started when one student said, ‘Hey, I got this play and I’ve never written a play before,” said Adam Brown, the director of Theater Ink. “And so I read it and I’m like, ‘Hey, we should do this play.’ We reached out to other kids, and they wrote about five or six plays, and that’s how the festival was born.”

    Brown, who has been an active participant in the theater department for 24 years, helps the student playwrights develop their ideas and organize the page-to-stage process.

    At first, Theater Ink had around five students get together and workshop their plays. Now, the school receives anywhere from 10 to 30 submissions a year. It tries to accept between eight and 10 shows. The student writers submit their works to a blind panel of judges made up of their peers, faculty and alumni.

    The students begin their process in September, and throughout the year they get together in groups to edit. This is all before auditions and set design. The festival has its own part-time student tech crew.

    “It’s basically a year-long process,” said Maya Macomber, a graduating senior from Newton North who has written for the festival all four years of her high school education. She is a co-coordinator of the festival and the writer and director of the play “Milkyway,” a situational comedy in which three friends accidentally explode Earth and must search the cosmos for another planet to inhabit.

    “It’s amazing to see something I started thinking about in September, at the beginning of the year, actually happen on stage now in June,” Macomber said. “It’s a really cool process to get to see my play go through all the steps of it.” Macomber plans to major in film and television production at Chapman University in the fall.

    Julia Bartow Fuchs, a junior at Newton North and a co-coordinator of the festival, wrote and directed “The Screen Door to the Sea,” a deeply personal story of unrequited love, friendship, and letting go. This is her third year writing for the festival.

    “It’s a nine-month process,” Bartow Fuchs said. “You’re just sort of in it for this whole time, and then it’s like you’re coming up for air at the end… Everyone comes together at the end, and it’s so surreal.”

    With 18 years under its belt, Theater Ink aims to amplify young voices regardless of experiences and backgrounds.

    “What’s really special about this is the voices of students,” Brown said. “It’s their voice…The plays that you’re seeing are coming from them. Their experiences, their ideas, their thoughts, their creativity, and that’s what makes it really special.”