Benjamin Banneker Academic High School

Benjamin Banneker Academic High School is a school located in Washington, D.C., that was built and named in honor of the African-American mathematician, astronomer, clockmaker, and publisher, Benjamin Banneker. The school population is around a mere 400 and the head of school is Anita Berger. Benjamin Banneker Academic High School is one of the many IB world schools. It is one of the most prestigious high schools in the nation, and is currently ranked 46th in Newsweek Magazine's 2007 Top 1,000 High Schools. BBAHS (often short for Benjamin Banneker Academic High School) is home of Team 928: Hounds of Steel, a robotics team that annually competes in the FIRST Robotics Competition.

Community

Benjamin Banneker Academic High School serves the entire District of Columbia. However, because of its high academic excellence, prospective students must apply and be accepted into BBAHS. Students in the surrounding community are not necessarily able to attend Banneker AHS, due to the rigorous requirements for admittance. These students often find admittance at a local high school located just a few blocks away from Benjamin Banneker AHS, Cardozo Senior High School.

Program Highlights

Banneker AHS is D.C.'s citywide academic high school, grades 9 through 12. The school offers a highly structured four-year program leading to college entrance.

Curriculum

*Academic: Required and elective college preparatory courses with a balance of the liberal arts and sciences.

*Extended Day Program:Athletic and a number of enrichment programs designed to integrate the abilities of the well-rounded student. Such activities include: JV Boys Basketball, Varsity Girls Basketball, Varsity Girls Volleyball, Varsity Girls Softball, Cheerleading, Dance Team, Track & Field, Cross Country, Lunchtime Pool/Billiards, Debate Team, It's Academic Team, Chess Club, Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honor Society), Recycling Club (newly created by a student), The Student Government Association headed by Ms. Imani Sutton for the 07-08 school year, and many more.

*Community Laboratory Program: 270 hours of volunteer service over a four-year period, fostering good citizenship, increasing knowledge of the world of work, and promoting awareness of career goals is required from each student upon graduation.

*Banneker Summer Institute (BSI): A five-week summer enrichment program designed to strengthen academic skills in science and mathematics. Courses in visual arts, music and Internet Access are also offered.

*International Baccalaureate Courses: Languages, Experimental Sciences, Mathematics, Arts and Individuals and Society.

*Advanced Placement Courses: Biology, Calculus AB, English Literature, English Language and Composition, French, German, Music Theory, Spanish, Spanish Literature, U.S. History, U.S. Government and Statistics.

*Honors Courses May Include: Algebra II/Trigonometry, English III, Geometry and Latin II.

Robotics

Benjamin Banneker AHS is home of team 928, Hounds of Steel, a robotics team that competes in the FIRST Robotics Competition. During the 2006 season, in the game named Aim High, they were able to reach 9th overall rank in the NASA/VCU Regionals event, with their robot, Noodlehead (named after a team-member, Jun Mo W., also known by many as the Head Mechanic for the team, created a system in which noodles were integrated onto the robot). That year Team 928 was able to participate in the 2006 FIRST Robotics Competition Championship, held in Atlanta, Georgia's Georgia Dome.

During the 2007 season, they were again tremendously successful in playing the game Rack 'n Roll. Their robot, named Argo (given by Mark H., the team's and school's robotics coordinator), placed 1st in NASA/VCU Regionals. They were able to win against all the other teams in the semi-final matches, however, lost in the finals.

The robotics club also participated in the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams [http://web.mit.edu/inventeams/] with their invention ["Cell-Mate"] (a cell-phone locker). The invention was extremely successful, and has been showcased at numerous events. It is currently under a pending patent.

External links

[http://www.benjaminbanneker.org/ Official school web page]
[http://www.ibo.org/ibo/index.cfm?page=/ibo/services/ib_worldschool&language=EN International Bacchalaureate Organization]
[http://bannekerobotics.wordpress.com/ Official "Team 928" web page (created by Mariela C.)]

References