Playing to Win: Spring Hill Elementary’s  Rubik’s Cube Team Advances to Finals!

Eight of Spring Hill Elementary’s finest “cubers” competed last night in the You Can Do the Cube Competition as part of the USA Science and Engineering Festival.  The event places eight students at a table with 25 scrambled cubes. Spring Hill placed in the top six of the 20 teams competing. Also, the team shaved more than 30 seconds off their best time for a new personal record.

This qualifies Spring Hill to move on to the finals Saturday,  on the National Mall.  The top prize is $1,000 for math and science equipment to the winning school and will be presented by the inventor of the cube, Erno Rubik!

Congratulations to Takehiro Mochizuki, Gerald Wu, David Chao, BoYoung Zhao, Sam Gurian, Caroline DiLorenzo, Ethan Wu, Alex Minutoli and alternates, Ramya Ravi and Sneha Ravi.  And coach Alison Bauer. Check out the final scores. See the team.

McLean Park Gets a Facelift

The Fairfax County Park Foundation recently received a grant for $5,000 from the McLean Community Foundation (MCF) to fund the replacement of a deteriorated and unsafe playground at Bryn Mawr Park located at 6700 Tennyson Drive.  Area 1 crew members completed the installation of the new equipment including a small plaque recognizing the generous contribution.

The McLean Community Foundation has a rich tradition of giving including a $1,000 gift for the Liberty Swing at Clemyjontri Park, a very special playground where children with disabilities can play side-by-side with other children.  More significantly, MCF funded the Fitness ‘n’ Fun quadrant of Clemyjontri Park. That $50,000 grant ranked among the largest single grants in the McLean Community Foundation’s 28-year history.