Author: Tanner Atha

Senior Davidson engineers had a very successful gathering on Tuesday, March 7, when they aimed to imitate the famous television show, “Shark Tank.” They had 11 project teams who presented to adults around the community who were invited to be the “sharks.” Each project team chose an innovation for which they had passion, and they put in hard work for these throughout the entire year. This event served as the students’ capstone, given they reached out to all the adults and then received professional criticism on their innovations.

“My group learned from engineers at Ford and Honda, along with other outstanding adults, about how to enhance our anti-texting and driving innovation. As a class, we have grown so much through his opportunity and are thankful for all the help we have received, as we are the future of innovation in this country.” – Davidson senior Cole Carter

BNLC Behavioral Intervention Specialist Kiersten Houser goes above and beyond to bring her best self to her classroom every day. 

This is Kiersten’s first year teaching as the Behavioral Intervention Specialist, in which she is focusing on her students’ social-emotional regulations along with helping them with their academic work in their classroom. She teaches around 13 students, mainly in 1st grade. Kiersten finds that having a balanced social life outside of work helps bring her best self to her classroom. 

If teaching weren’t already enough, Kiersten is involved in a sand volleyball league and she’s getting her masters in special education. She finds that during her busy week, playing sand volleyball gives her something to look forward to between work and studying. She also noticed that when she finds the time to exercise, be it playing volleyball or going to a gym, she is more focused and energized throughout the day; this helps her stay motivated with her busy schedule. 

Teachers that work with Kiersten find that she is very knowledgeable and resourceful when it comes to dealing with their students’ behaviors. She has the opportunity to directly use what she’s learning in her master’s program in her own classroom. She knows that not all days are easy and the best thing for the students and staff is to reset and start each day fresh. 

When it comes to being a full-time teacher and student, she finds that her support system in and out of school is necessary to bring her best self to the classroom and school. Kiersten has amazing friends and family that are always there for her and can relate to her journey and struggles. Her mom is also a Behavioral Intervention Specialist and is a great person with whom she can discuss her job and career. Her friends are also in education, so they can empathize with one another and seek advice. 

Kiersten truly brings her best self to everything she does, and it shows in and outside of the classroom.  

The Davidson High School Chamber Orchestra rehearsed with special guest Noah Bendix-Balgley. Bendix-Balgley is a world-renowned American classical violinist who is the Concertmaster of the prestigious Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

Born in Asheville, North Carolina, Noah began playing the violin at the age of 4. He graduated from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and was later recognized as a laureate of the 2009 Queen Elisabeth Competition. He has also won top prizes at the Long-Thibaud Competition in France and the Postacchini Competition in Italy.

He is in town to solo with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra and had some time to work in a rehearsal with Davidson. Having someone with his talent and experience is an amazing opportunity for these students.

Justin Fuller is one of those people who knew from a young age what he wanted to do with his life. Thankfully, Hilliard provided classes that paved the way for him to follow his desired career track. 

He became interested in engineering when he was in middle school. Then, flying remote control planes was one of his favorite pastimes. He recalls becoming frustrated with the hobby, however, as the expensive lithium batteries that powered the model aircraft would frequently swell up and die. As any good engineer would do, he spent countless hours researching basic electrical principles and battery chemistries to find the root cause. 

On entering high school, he was pleased to learn that Hilliard offered four years of introductory engineering courses.

“Of all my high school experiences, these courses likely influenced my life beyond school the most,” he said. “Each course provided me with exposure to various engineering fields and gave me a sense of direction when determining which field I wanted to pursue.”  

After graduating from Davidson in 2015, he attended The Ohio State University where he obtained his bachelor’s in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Today, he is an electrical engineer at Lockheed Martin Space in Denver, Colorado. He specializes in power electronics and is responsible for the early design and analysis of electrical power converters or power supplies used on various spacecraft, satellites and space probes. 

While the design predates his employment, his group is responsible for the power design on NASA’s Orion spacecraft which recently launched on Artemis 1 a few weeks ago and will soon be used for the next manned lunar mission. Justin is currently working on designs for large geostationary satellites including those used for GPS navigation and early-warning missile detection. 

In his spare time, he enjoys taking advantage of the beautiful Colorado scenery through backpacking, hiking (including summiting the Rocky Mountains) and photography.

Coming from a long line of educators, Patricia Bergstrom always knew that she wanted to continue her family legacy and be an educator. Patricia is a Hilliard graduate and has fond memories of her teachers while growing up in the Hilliard City Schools district. “School was so important to me and I felt cared about at school, and because of my amazing teachers that cared so much, I wanted to be that person for my students,” Patricia stated. 

Patricia is a Freshman math teacher at Hilliard Bradley and loves to follow-up on her students throughout their high school careers. Just like her experiences going to school, Patricia wants to not only be there for her students educationally but personally as well. “Knowing that kids have a lot going on outside of school, I want to be there for them as an inspiration to learning and that doesn’t have to be just math. It can be overcoming obstacles they are going through outside of my classroom.” It’s important to Patricia that she teaches math and also helps her students make the most out of their time at school, become problem solvers outside of the classroom, and do what they love. 

Thanks to her early morning workouts, Patricia brings never-ending positive energy and excitement to her classroom. Searching for a selfcare outlet, she stumbled upon OrangeTheory and fell in love with their workouts and the community. These early morning classes get her energy flowing before she starts teaching. She noticed that she was bringing more energy to the classroom and had an increased positive mindset to situations after she started consecutively working out. “I put in a lot of energy and focus on my students thanks to the workouts I do in the mornings.” 

The one debatable vice Patricia has is her “procrastination tool”, baking. We’ve heard from Bradley peers however that her treats are nothing less than amazing. So, no complaints there. Takeaways from time with Patricia are to enjoy each and every moment, do what you love, be passionate, and baking can be a tool for procrastination but more importantly compassion.