News & Achievements

  • 2021-2022 News and Achievements

    2020-2021

    Year-End Athletic Awards

    Scholar Athlete Award Winners-
    Emma Leland
    Jack White
     
    Paul McCall Sportsmanship Award Winners
    Makenna Moragne
    Trae Avant
     
    Athletes of the Year
    Jayden Brannan
    Malea Triplett
     
    Head Coach of the Year
    Jeremy Shetler
     
    Assistant Coach of the Year
    Izzy Relampagos

    Chess News
    Ida B Wells students swept the Oregon High School Chess Team Association State Championship this past weekend! The Varsity team of Michael Schuff (senior), Thomas Schuff (sophomore), Andrew Berka (sophomore) and Sarah Woods (junior) won First place in the Varsity section. The Junior Varsity team consisting of upcoming Ida B Wells students from feeder middle schools, Deva Wheeler, Forrest Holt, Karol Iwanow and Jasper DeFrain, tied for First Place in the JV section.

    Ida B Wells had a particularly strong showing, being the only school with more than one team playing - and actually fielding 3 teams - with Logan Leybold (senior) and Yuval Haim and Evan Totten from Robert Gray Middle School also playing. Checkmate!

    Robotics News
    Even though Ida B Wells didn’t have an official Robotics Club this year, Ida B Wells students participated in the FIRST Inspires First Tech Challenge robotics competition. Viruses may have drastically changed this school year, but there were no computer viruses affecting the robot for the PRISMA robotics team, staffed by Ida B Wells seniors Oliver Flood, Ori Friesen, and Michael Schuff, junior Sarah Woods and sophomore, Thomas Schuff!  Over the year, they built and programmed a robot that competed in FIRST Tech Challenge online league meets, performing well enough to qualify for the Oregon State Championship.  On May 1 they brought home multiple awards from that Championship: They placed 4th overall in the state, received the CONNECT award for efforts in outreach connecting to the community and the diversity of the engineering world, and Sarah Woods was selected as a finalist for the Dean’s List!  Kudos to the PRISMA robotics team! 

    State solo music results
    First place for Viola - Akseli Mende
    Runners-up:   Soprano voice - Amelia Friess

    Tenor voice - George Ramsey
    Baritone voice - Nico Vilches
    High Saxophone - Aria Morgan 

    We are so proud of our students! (Margeret Murer and Nick Caldwell)
     
    Asian American Youth Leadership Conference
    The annual Asian American Youth Leadership Conference took place virtually on Friday April 23rd with several IBW ADPI members in attendance. Junior Aria Morgan served as the Ambassador for IBW, and participants attended trainings and sessions on combating white supremacy, voting, and other issues facing Asian Americans.

    Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education  
    9th grade student, Zoe Toperosky, competed in an optional contest to commorate the Holocaust through OJMCHE.  Zoe’s entry, Is This The End? won third place in the writing category. Congratulations to Zoe on this fantastic achievement!

    Virtualandia 
    Congratulations to Sophomore, Emma Hayes! She was selected, along with 10 other PPS students, to have her final poem filmed by a professional production team, and featured in the final event on Thursday, April 29.
    Congratulations to all these incredible students and to all of the amzaing, creative young people who submitted their work this year.

    Oregon Science Olympiad
    This year's Oregon Science Olympiad was held online, an improvement over last year's cancellation. Students Zoe Carver (12), Elaine Demetrion (12), Zoe Drozdowski (12), Bronte McKinnis (12), Ainsley Ragnetti (9), Brinnan Smith (10), Cedar Tatarek (9), and Tisya Tomar (9) represented Ida B. Wells-Barnett High School at this year's tournament.  While we were only able to compete in 10 events (out of 21), we placed in the top five in 6 of them and Zoe Carver finished in 3rd place in the Dynamic Planet competition. --well done everyone!  Overall, our small team managed to place 10th (out of 15 teams).

    A HUGE thank you from Coaches Scott Guthrie and Robert Morgan to Fig Neutrons Team Leaders Zoe Drozdowski, Elaine Demetrion, Zoe Carver, and Brontë McKinnis, for their hard work coordinating the team effort this year.

    The returning team members look forward to building on our success and recruiting more teammates for next year's (hopefully) live and in-person competition!

    IBW Speech and Debate
    This past week, our Speech & Debate team competed at the State Championship Tournament. We are lucky to have been so well represented by our student competitors. Special congratulations to Zoe Carver, this year's state champion in After-Dinner Speaking. Way to go Zoe!  

    Thanks again to the students, parents/guardians, and coaches who have made this past Speech & Debate season one of the sustaining highlights of the past year for me. It was my privilege to work with such a wonderful group of students this year, starting way back in October. Below are our final results from the tournament:

    • After-Dinner Speaking -- Zoe Carver, State Champion!!! (1st place)

    • Prose -- Cara Weathers and Cate Latimer, Finalists

    • Radio Commentary -- Hannah Lo, Finalist

    • Humorous Interpretation -- Zoe Carver, Finalist

    • Value Lincoln Douglas Debate -- Noemie Veillette, Semifinalist and Preston Bushnell, Quarterfinalist

    • Public Forum Debate -- Natalie Taylor and Hannah Lo, Quarterfinalists

    Please congratulate these students the next time you see them. They have put a lot of work into a long season of speaking and debating.

    Oregon Battle of the Books 

    Congratulations to the Ida B. Wells-Barnett Oregon Battle of the Books Team!  Last week, we battled teams from North Bend High School and Baker High School. We won one game, lost one game, and tied one game with North Bend. Against Baker High School, we won two games and were undefeated. As a team, we read over 50 books. We also completed several battles battling each other for practice.  Please congratulate Elaine Demetrion, Ethan Satterstein, Grace Pendergrass, Jack Conway, Logan Mulvihill, Selah Monsef, Sara Arheim, and Sophia Stedman on an excellent season!

    Model United Nations
    The Model United Nations was all virtual this year, but despite missing some of the beloved aspects, it ended up being a very good experience for 20 Ida B. Wells students. Our school was represented well and won some Speaker Awards:

    Best Country Representative
    Zoe Carver
    Zach Craven
    Noemie Veillette

    Best Consensus Builder
    Hannah Lo
     
    Looking toward next year, Hannah Lo was elected a Vice President to the Secretariat, the student leadership of the conference.  Congratulations Hannah! In other big news, our delegates made a successful BIG 5 bid and we were assigned to represent France next year.
     
    Thank you to our wonderful leaders this year: Kira Dobbins, Emma Laboe and Eleanor Potter

    Speech and Debate Team
    The Ida B. Wells Speech & Debate team competed over the past week in the most competitive and talented district tournament in the state, our own Portland District, featuring arch-rivals Lincoln and Cleveland.  The results are in. Our school can be proud of sending the following students to compete in the upcoming Oregon State Speech & Debate Tournament on April 23-24:
    • Preston Bushnell in Lincoln Douglas Debate (alternate for Extemporaneous Speaking)
    • Zoe Carver in After-Dinner Speaking and Humorous Interpretation
    • Ori Friesen in Parliamentary Debate
    • Cate Latimer in Prose
    • Hannah Lo in Radio and Public Forum Debate
    • Nolan Sottoway in Parliamentary Debate
    • Cedar Tatarek in Congressional Debate
    • Natalie Taylor in Public Forum Debate
    • Noemie Veillette in Lincoln Douglas Debate (alternate for Impromptu Speaking)
    • Cara Weathers in Prose and Dramatic Interpretation
    Please congratulate these students for the competitive success they so richly deserve. And cheer them on as they set their sights on representing us at State! Go IBW Speech & Debate!

    OMEA District Solo Music Competition

    Congratulations are in order for six Ida B. Wells music students who placed 1st in their category in the OMEA District Solo Competition (virtual) and now move on to the State level competition (virtual). For Soprano voice: Amelia Friess; Mezzo-soprano voice: Adia Jones; Tenor voice: George Ramsey; Baritone voice: Nico Vilches; Viola: Akseli Mende and High Saxophone: Aria Morgan (Caldwell). We are so proud of our musicians!
     
    New School Records set!
    On Saturday, our Cross Country Varsity teams participated in the Rose City Championship Invite. With no State Championship this year, this event was the first time our teams competed outside the PIL and against some of the best runners in the state. Our women's team, Charlotte Richman, Sylvia Ingram, Josie Fale, Petra Schuster, Jordyn Davies, Annika Deazley and Lily Roller placed 1st and Jr. Charlotte Richman was also the individual winner with a scorching fast time of 17:30, setting a new IBW School Record!  On the men's side, Giuliano Scasso, Quinn Wilcox, Kai Mitchell-Reiss, Sullivan Maag, Luke Bexelius, Logan Bishopric and Quentin Nelson placed 4th.  Giuliano Scassco placed 2nd overall and also set a brand new school record with a time of 14:38. Both these teams will continue to build on their success as they move directly into the Track and Field distance races.  Go IBW!

    Ida B. Wells Chess Club
    COVID can’t beat the Ida B. Wells Chess Club (And neither can any other school in Oregon, it seems!) 
    With COVID prohibiting the Ida B. Wells Chess Club from participating ‘over the board’, the chess club moved online and has been participating in a state-wide team league the last several months. Congratulations to Ida B. Wells chess players for fielding two teams of players that took FIRST place and tied for SECOND place in the Mid-Winter Chess League Battle!  Playing games were seniors Oliver Flood, Jamison Ishimaru, Logan Leybold and Michael Schuff, junior Sarah Woods and sophomore Thomas Schuff, who were joined by chess players from Ida B. Wells feeder schools.  Next up is the Oregon Scholastic Chess Federation State Team Championship in April followed by the Oregon High School Chess Team Association Championship in May.  Kudos, and good luck to the Chess Team!

    DECA
    Every Spring, DECA chapters across the state of Oregon come together to compete in the State Career Development Conference (SCDC). Up for grabs are bragging rights, DECA Glass (trophies), and a coveted birth to the International Career Development Conference (ICDC). This year, SCDC and ICDC are being held virtually. While 2020 was a turning point for our small chapter (we earned our first trip to ICDC ever), this year, Ida B. Wells DECA showed up and showed out! Our 2021 cohort earned 6 births to ICDC this year and had several top 10 finishes!
    Check out our results: DECA Results

    Speech and Debate Club
    We are so excited to announce that SIX students from Ida B. Wells qualified for the National Speech & Debate Tournament in June. Hearty congratulations are in order for the following qualifying students:
    • Cara Weathers -- Extemporaneous Speaking (US)
    • Hannah Lo and Natalie Taylor -- Public Forum Debate
    • Noemie Veillette -- Value Lincoln Douglas Debate
    • Preston Bushnell -- World Schools Debate
    • Zoe Carver -- Congressional Debate (Senate)

    2021 American Mathematics Competition
    Nearly 60 students participated in the online version of the American Mathematics Competition this year! Ida B. Wells top-ten finishers on each exam are listed below - congrats to all who participated!

    AMC 10 Top Ten
    1. Owen Schlimgen
    2. Jake Yun
    3. Thomas Schuff
    4. Emily Kern
    5. Peter Platosh
    6. Jesse Mitchell-Reiss
    7. Adit Mukalel
    8. Hodaka Nakamura
    9. Jake Brauser
    10. Carter Kroenke

    AMC 12 Top Ten
    1. Preston Bushnell
    2. Elaine Demetrion
    3. Cara Weathers
    4. Emma Laboe
    5. Eve Hart
    5. Noemie Veillette
    7. Kira Dobbins
    7. Michael Schuff
    9. Nathan Edwards
    10. Kim Daniel

    American Association of Variable Star Observers 
    Nolan Sottoway (current WHS senior) and Sol McClain (WHS class of 2020) did a summer research project with astronomer Richard Berry on the variable star XX Cygni. While most variable stars take days to years to complete one brightness cycle, XX Cygni takes just over three hours, making it a great target for amateur research. Although this star has been studied for over a century, many questions about its cycle have remained. This student research has uncovered new conclusions about the star's period and its behavior that they will be presenting to the American Association of Variable Star Observers and later publishing in a peer-reviewed paper.

     

    2019 News and Achievements

    2018-2019 News and Achievements

    2017-2018 News and Achievements

    2016-2017 News and Achievements
    2015-2016 News and Achievements