NATIONAL MERIT WINNERS Four Peninsula High seniors are among the approximately 2,500 high school seniors across the nation who have won National Merit Scholarship awards for academic promise and distinguished performance in the competition. The $2500 scholarship recipients were selected by a committee of college admission officers and high school counselors based on the academic record of the applicants, standardized test scores, leadership, an essay and a letter of recommendation from a high school official. Congratulations to Michelle Lin, Daniel Tartakovsky, Ashley Yin, and Henry Zhang!  LATIN NEWS
On the Ides of March, 2013, Peninsula High's Latin students joined over 154,000 middle school and high school pupils from around the country and around the world in taking the National Latin Exam. In addition to testing the rudiments of Latin (i.e. grammar and vocabulary), the test also checks for understanding of the Classical world, the religions that flourished at that time, and the cultural heritage from which we benefit in our time. Students who have scored well on the NLE are eligible for academic scholarships and other incentives to continue studying Latin and Greek at the college level. All told our proud panthers earned 3 gold medals, 8 silver medals, and 41 certificates of merit. Almost half of all Peninsula High Latin students who took the Exam have come out victorious with 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place finishes! Our 2013 gold medalists are Andrew Whalen, Samantha Wathugala, and Arjun Tambe. Our silver medalists are Kathleen Maeder, Euiree Cho, Aleksander Gurevich, Rachel Klose, Mark Hashimoto, Shreshth Kumar, David Steinberg, and Alessandro Zulli. Our certificate-of-merit recipients, though too numerous to list here, deserve congratulation as well, for they scored far above the national (and international) average among their Latin-learning peers. SPIRIT WEEK Our student body will have a fun opportunity to de- stress now that AP's are done. This upcoming week is Spirit Week, and there are exciting activities happening every day during lunch. Monday is Neon Day, so while the seniors are at Disneyland, the 9th, 10th and 11th graders can come to school wearing their favorite neon clothes and enjoy a class competition without the seniors! Tuesday is Twin Day, Wednesday is Pajama Day, and Thursday is Class Colors Day, with the final class competition of the year. Friday is a student free day, and Saturday is Prom. What a fun week for our student body! PROM INFORMATION Prom is next Saturday, May 25th at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion from 8 pm until midnight. All Prom attendees must turn in a Transportation Form when they purchase their ticket to Prom. This Transportation Form indicates whether they will be taking our chartered bus or if the parent will be taking responsibility for the students' transportation. I hope that our student body will seriously consider taking the school's chartered buses to this special event. We are proud to offer this chaperoned, safe and affordable method of transportation for only $10. We are certainly looking forward to this year's Prom, which is themed "Party at Gatsby's".  AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY (ACS) Banquet Award Night:
Two Peninsula High students were honored at the local American Chemical Society Education Banquet on May 17 at Mount St. Mary's College, Donahue Center. Giancarlo Merola (11th grader) received an award for placing 1st among the PVPHS second year (AP) chemistry students. Carina Kan (10th grader) received an award for placing 1st among the PVPHS first year (Honors) chemistry students. Congratulations!  | | Giancarlo and Carina |
PALOS VERDES ART CENTER STUDENT SHOW Student art will be on display at the PV Art Center's Promenade location (the old Borders) until May 26th. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday 10:00am to 4:00pm and Sundays 1:00pm to 4:00pm. PVPHS STUDENT ART SHOW 2013 From May 13-29, Peninsula High student artists will show their art at the Malaga Cove Library Art Gallery at 2400 Via Campesina in Palos Verdes Estates. There will be a reception for artists on Thursday, May 23 from 5-7pm. I encourage everyone to visit the gallery to view the incredible artistic creations of our Peninsula High students. Counseling Office & College Career Center (CCC) News From Stephanie Scott, Associate Principal Junior Conferences: Counselors will meet with Juniors May 20th and 21st through their English classes to review the college application process, researching colleges and finalizing their college list, and how to request a teacher and counselor recommendation letter. Alumni Day Panel: On May 23rd a panel of recent graduates will speak to current seniors during their English classes about the transition to college, what they've learned about college life and answer questions. Practice SAT/ACT: The CCC will offer a practice SAT or ACT Test on Saturday, June 8th along with a Parent Q & A Session. Interested students can register by Thursday, June 6th, in the CCC with $20 cash or a check payable to PVPHS. On Saturday, June 8th students need to arrive at 8:40am and report to the CCC. The parent session is from 9:15 - 10:15am. All parents are welcome, even if your student is not taking a practice test. Students who have not yet picked up their scores from any practice test(s), PSAT, or PLAN test scores from the 2012-2013 school year are asked stop by the CCC before the end of the school year. Non- PVPSS Summer School Classes: If you are planning on taking a summer school course somewhere other than Palos Verdes Peninsula Summer School (pvpss.com), you must get approval from your counselor prior to enrolling. Any course taken without prior counselor approval will not be added to your PVPHS transcript. Please see your counselor for the required form. NHS CLEANUP DAY National Honor Society Students held a Saturday Peninula High Beautification Day on Saturday, May 18. They painted the numbers on parking spots, the lunch tables, all of the brown benches, and the new bulletin boards that will be hung up over summer. They pulled weeds and spruced up the planter between the main office and the nurse's office. They also scraped gum off classroom desks.
A big thanks to NHS for taking on this project! Everything looks great! Thank you Mrs. Okamoto and our custodial staff!  SOLAR CUP 2013 BOAT BUILDING & RACING COMPETITION - SKINNER LAKE
West Basin Water District sponsored four local high school teams in Solar Cup 2013, the world's largest solar boat building and racing competition in the world! This year's solar cup competition began last November when student teams from 43 high schools assembled pre-cut wooden pieces into a 16-foot hollow canoe hulls. Students sawed, screwed, nailed and glued, became familiar with terms such as "bow," "stern," "chines," and "bulkhead," then hauled their masterpieces back to school. Over the next 7 months, teams installed motors, propellers, drive shafts and solar panels to operate their boats. From May 16-20, the Peninsula High team competed with valiant confidence on Skinner Lake. Endurance, speed, and logistical competitions ended with Peninsula High in the running for first place. Full results will not be available until later today, and will be reported in next week's update. CONGRATULATIONS SOLAR BOAT TEAM: Emma Anderson Winston Chan Joven Du Lawrence Goo Kenno Hayashi Edwin Jacobson Partick Kim Warren King Shreshth Kumar Iven Luu Chris Ma Myrl Marmarelis Talia Melton Eddy Meraz Michael Nixt Albert Nixt Trisha Ram Sergio Ramos Drew Sommer Grant Uba Landon Watts Alan Williams (President) Juli Yishinaga Josh Zane THANK YOU TO OUR WONDERFUL CHAPERONES AND MENTORS Jim Hescox (Advisor) Jon Hescox Alfonzo Ramos John Hall Sr. John Hall Jr. Dave King  | | Dedicated to Mrs. Hescox |
 | | The Solar Boat Skippers |
 | | Emma-Ham Radio Specialist |
 | | Team Work |
 | | Launching the Boat |
FOR MORE SOLAR BOAT PICTURES GO TO: May 17th Qualifying Day https://picasaweb.google.com/darrylry/PHSAtQualifyingDay# May 18th Endurance Races https://picasaweb.google.com/darrylry/PHSEnduranceRace# | 
