The Home of Midwood Science Research

Valedictorian Altin Kukic (right) and salutatorian Aleena Sklyar (left) appear poised for great things. Photo: Caroline Pychynski

High School – full of tests, quizzes, friendships, and stress – is coming to an end for the class of 2023. Amongst the students who have left their mark on Midwood are valedictorian Altin Kukic and salutatorian Aleena Sklyar.

After surviving the hardships of high school, Kukic finished with a GPA of 103.49, while Sklyar finished with a GPA of 102.7.

Kukic was accepted to Harvard University on a full scholarship as well as to the Macaulay Honors College to obtain an undergraduate degree in chemistry education. He plans to eventually get a master's degree at Columbia Teachers College and return to Midwood to become a chemistry teacher.

"I fell in love with chemistry on the first day of ninth grade because of Mr. [Vincent] Adams," he said. "The class upheld my motto of applying knowledge to various questions rather than memorizing concepts." Kukic went on to take AP Chemistry as a sophomore.

Although the work was really hard, his family was always by his side. "My mother and sister, who I think of as 'comfort,' would always buy me a Red Bull before each exam," he said.

Kukic has been a chemistry tutor at Midwood since his freshman year and joined the science research team in tenth grade, working on cervical cancer research with professors at CUNY and St. Francis. A busy guy, he's also the office secretary at a doctor's office on the Upper East Side, an election chairperson at the Board of Elections, and the superintendent of his building. Still, he somehow has time for hobbies.

"I enjoy planespotting and walking by the Caesar's Bay waterfront with my sister, usually sipping on Starbucks," Kukic said. "I'm also a creator of an AP Calculus prep book, and I played badminton for twelve years."

Kukic has an interesting test prep strategy that other Hornets might want to give a try. "My favorite memory at Midwood was going to the library before I had exams and giving lectures to myself, especially about AP U.S. History, while everyone, including the librarians, would listen," he said.

Ms. Cecelia Manno, Kukic's AP U.S. History teacher, will remember him as a very eager and hardworking student.

"Altin is the most diligent student, avid reader, and real critical thinker I have ever met," said Ms. Manno. "He is always looking to learn, and I felt that a lot of the time, I was talking to an adult. He has a lot of potential, and he's a kind-hearted person with an old soul."

"I hope that when I come back in six years, I'll see that same Midwood buzz, and most importantly, still see Ms. Manno in room 2S," said Kukic.

Sklyar, the school's salutatrian, took 10 AP's during her academic journey. "It was nice to know after all the AP classes I took, something came out of it," she said.

The accomplishments took dedication and sacrifice.

"To get a high average, you have to take a lot of classes," said Sklyar. "During my junior year, I took four AP classes, including AP Chemistry, which definitely hit me. But even though all those AP tests were hard, I studied a lot for each of the exams and it paid off."

One of Sklyar's most rewarding classes was science research, she said, where she worked with her partner to study neuroscience.

She is continuing her education at Tufts University, where she will be majoring in biochemistry.

"I really like chemistry, which is why I took AP Chem," said Sklyar. "In the future I want to major in pharmacology, which is the study of drugs and medicine, and biochemistry is the first step in understanding how substances react with the body. So I would major in biochemistry first, then go to graduate school for pharmacology."

The support she got from her teachers had a big impact, she said. "All my teachers helped me a lot," said Sklyar. "They were always willing to work with me."

Sklyar, who also enjoys dancing and reading, was described by her friends as "honest" and "optimistic."

"Aleena is one of the most hardworking and motivated people I know," said senior Zita Zhong. "Even during times when she's not feeling well, she still manages to get her work done without any hesitation. I would say that, as a student, she's super diligent, disciplined, and responsible. And as a friend, she's always willing to help out others when they are in need and will give 100% of her support to them."

So keep your eyes open as these two seem poised for great things, in science and perhaps even back in Midwood's halls.

Written by Caroline Pychynski and Charlotte Lee (Class of 2024)
This article originally appeared in the June 2023 issue of Argus.

Juniors Hailey Lau, Ashley Castillo-Mendez, and Batool Kamal analyze brainwaves using an EEG headband. Photo: Susan Louey

Midwood's young scientists brought home not one, but two New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) mini-research grants this year. The two teams of juniors were awarded $300 each to offset the costs of materials needed to pursue their experiments.

Juniors in the science research class submitted proposals to Mr. Glenn Elert to be considered for the application process. They then had to modify their proposals to fit with the guidelines of the grant.

As they worked on their proposals, Mr. Elert and Ms. Stacy Goldstein helped review their applications before they submitted them to a panel of professors from NYIT.

"The funding is meant for students who don't have access to the money to do their project," Ms. Goldstein said. "You have to be very clear on what your project is about and the materials you need."

Mr. Elert stressed the importance of intrinsic motivation. "You have to be someone who wants to sit down and do something that's going to take you a whole year to do," he said.

The grantees this year are pursuing research experiments on illusions and hyper scanning.

Juniors Diana Chen Feng and Jennifer Fan are studying the rubber hand illusion, which is focused on perceptual changes caused by thermal stimulation. In a larger context, they hope that their results will confirm previous studies on the effectiveness of constraint-induced therapy for paresis, which is partial paralysis caused by nerve damage or disease.

"Our mentor, Dr. Shimon Edelman from Cornell University, helped guide us through our project by explaining any details that we did not understand in the research paper," Fan said. "We would set up Zoom meetings once a month to catch him up on how we were doing in our experiment and ask him questions about the procedure."

Using the grant, the duo has purchased facial massager hammers and rubber hands to replicate the rubber hand illusion on a smaller scale.

"When I found out we were one of the recipients of the grant, I was ecstatic and shocked," Feng said.

Feng and Fan sought out ways to repeat the original experiment with more affordable technology.

"We were originally going to buy a TSD191 Thermode and a thermal stimulator from Biopac Systems," Feng said. "However, it was way over our budget. That's why we decided to purchase facial massagers instead."

The grantees received $300 checks from the New York Institute of Technology to go towards their research projects.

The second team of grantees received the award for their study on the effect of friendship and emotional synchrony on brain waves. Juniors Hailey Lau, Ashley Castillo-Mendez, and Batool Kamal plan to use EEG devices, which measure electrical activity, in order to evaluate how synchronized the brains of two close friends are.

The goal of their project is to explain why different people become friends and to investigate the emotional correspondence in friendship.

"The hardest part [of the application] was writing the general abstract of our research," Kamal said. "We needed to make it convincing."

Similar to the other grantees, this trio also worked with a mentor who guided them through picking out the right materials and analyzing the data. Their mentor, Dr. Richard Angle from Columbia University, also helped them manage their time and select their pool of students, Castillo-Mendez said.

With the grant, the group was able to purchase a BrainBit EEG headband that allows them to visualize the frequencies of brain waves in reaction to different stimuli such as emotionally provocative videos.

"When I first found out [about the grant], I was pretty exhilarated," Kamal said. "My group and I were stressed at the time over how to fund the EEG and the software, so winning the grant took a lot of weight off our shoulders."

Since mid-April, the team has been searching for pairs of friends to participate in their research study; the amount of students signing up has increased by the day. Students are still welcome to sign up or catch them in action in room A215 during period nine.

These future scientists will continue their experiments throughout the next few months and eventually submit data to various fairs and competitions in hopes of contributing ground-breaking research to advance the field of science worldwide.

Written by Jinyu Xu and Xue Feng Zou (Class of 2024)
This article originally appeared in the June 2023 issue of Argus.