Student Standouts for April 26, 2024

Student Standouts: Poojari ’25, Puri ’25, Katyal ’25, Gandhi ’25, Best Buddies, and E-waste Drive Recap

Congratulations to this week’s standouts below. Way to go #RamNation! And as always, if you have a story to share, please email weeklynews@micds.org.

 

MICDS Research Students Sweep Podium at SLU ASBMB Symposium

On April 6, four of our MICDS Research students applied to and presented original research at the Saint Louis University American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) High School Research Symposium. Fifteen students were selected to construct a literature review or a compilation of lab work that they’re currently involved in. Culminating with an abstract, a scientific poster, and a slide presentation. Each then presented their research for seven to eight minutes in front of SLU faculty, other students, and high school faculty members.

Our MICDS students swept the top three placements. Congratulations to:

  • Amisha Poojari ’25 – 1st Place
  • Arjun Puri ’25 – 2nd Place
  • Abhinav Katyal ’25 – 3rd Place
  • Sanjana Gandhi ’25 also represented MICDS well!

Way to go, Rams!

Best Buddies Prom

Recently, MICDS partnered with Miriam School to host a Best Buddies prom on Saturday, April 20. With their buddies, MICDS volunteers enjoyed dancing, a commons area with coloring and games, foosball, ping pong, air hockey, and a nice outdoor area for yard games.

Best Buddies pairs students with intellectual and developmental disabilities with students without disabilities, and there are events all around town throughout the year that they attend together. The MICDS Best Buddies Chapter partners with Miriam School and KEEN.

More information on Best Buddies, Miriam School, and KEEN can be found below.

Double the Donations for the E-waste Drive

By Saivi Gadi ’25

The Electronics Recycling Drive, run by the Community Service Committee, was incredibly successful this past Sunday! An estimated 30 MICDS families dropped off their old electronics. We collected more than twice as much as we did last year with a large range of items:
  • 10 Desktop Monitors
  • 14 Laptops
  • 19 Printers
  • 10 Computer CPUs
  • 10 iPads
  • 10 iPhones
  • 14 full boxes of cords
  • 2 TVs
We also received miscellaneous items, such as a VCR Player, DVD players, audio receivers, a microwave, a blender, coffee machines, paper shredders, keyboards, headphones, and speakers.
EPC came to pick up the items from MICDS on Monday, which happened to be Earth Day! It wasn’t planned that way, but it is symbolic because recycling e-waste is an important step toward protecting our environment. The drive was such a great way to get the MICDS community involved in recycling their old electronics, and we hope to continue this tradition every spring!