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Overcast First Intel semifinalist for Elmont
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Waters is the first Elmont student ever to be named a semifinalist in the prestigious competition. “It’s just a great achievement for Winston,” said Principal John Capozzi. “He’s an extraordinary student and an extraordinary person. It’s an extraordinary achievement for the school. Our science research program is nine years old. It’s a fairly young program. It started out as a club. It’s a great achievement for Winston, a great achievement for the school and a great achievement for the entire community.”
This year’s semifinalists were selected from 1,608 entrants.
Waters’s parents, who are both attorneys, said they always knew he was destined for greatness. “We almost lost him at birth,” said his father, Winston. “We got to the hospital and my wife had an emergency C-section.”
“The placenta broke, and he wasn’t breathing when he was born,” said his mother, Miriam. “He started breathing on his own.”
“We knew God really had a special purpose for him,” Winston Waters added.
Winston II has had an interest in science ever since elementary school. “In first or second grade he wanted a home science kit,” said his father. As he grew, his love for science grew. “He was always excited about the science research program,” Winston said.
In addition to excelling in science, Waters is the president of the senior class and the Model United Nations Club. He was Homecoming King, and he is a member of the Future Business Leaders of America, Global Links, Key Club, and the math, science and National Honor societies.
How does he do it? “No sleep,” Waters joked.
Many nights, his mother said, he is up until 3 a.m. “I tried to stay up with him,” Miriam Waters said. “I just can’t keep that type of schedule.”
She added, “When he believes in something, he’s very passionate about it. He puts in whatever amount of time is necessary to get it done.”
“It’s really an honor to be a semifinalist,” said Winston II, who received $1,000. The school gets a matching $1,000. Waters’s mentor is a professor at Adelphi who wishes to remain anonymous, and his advisor is the school’s science research teacher, Michelle Seeley-Flannory. “It’s great to be recognized for all the hard work I put into this,” he said. “I’m grateful for all the opportunities from my mentor, and I’m grateful to my advisor for keeping me focused on the program and helping me meet all the deadlines. I’m grateful to Mr. Capozzi and all the other teachers for their support.”
Waters studied Von Hippel Lindau, or VHL, disease, which is a form of kidney cancer, he explained. “After taking a course in genetics and molecular biology at Columbia University in the summer [of 2006], I gained an interest in several different areas, and biology was an area where I didn’t focus very much. So I thought it would be interesting.
“Once I got into the lab, I was taught lab techniques and specifically learned the background of the VHL disease,” he continued. “I was basically taught how VHL normally operates in a cell, and its interaction within the cell with different proteins.”
Waters said that developing the right kinds of medicines and conducting the right kinds of tests on the body could lead to a treatment for the disease.
When he was in fourth or fifth grade, he recalled, his father cut out a Newsday article about the Intel contest and told him he could do it. “I hoped that might have been in his subconscious,” his father said.
“I’ve always had a love for science,” Winston II said. “It’s an understanding of how different things in the environment and in the world — how everything works.”
“Mrs. Seeley-Flannory’s been my science research advisor since ninth grade,” he said. “She’s been teaching me different techniques. She made sure I was always on task and met a number of different deadlines. She was helpful in making sure that I always had all the documentation prepared for all the different fairs, and she made sure that the research was going well.”
Next Wednesday, Waters will find out if he is one of the contest’s 40 finalists. Each will receive $5,000, a laptop computer and a trip to Washington, D.C., where they will compete in a week-long event with a top prize of $100,000.
Whether or not he makes it to the next round, Waters has big plans, having applied to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard. He hopes to study biomedical sciences and engineering as well as economics or finance.
“We really are grateful to the community of Elmont, which provided an excellent foundation to the children,” said Miriam Waters. Winston’s older sister, Kimberly, a sophomore at Dartmouth, is spending the year studying in Barcelona. “The teachers that they had really cared, and as parents you could ask for nothing more than caring teachers and a very warm environment for them to go to school in. That certainly contributed to their interest in learning and education.”
Miriam added, “If nothing else, this achievement can just serve to encourage not only students from Elmont but from other communities, and show them that they can not only set goals and ... believe in their goals, but they can also put a plan in action to implement them. They can reach and achieve their dreams and their goals.”
Comments about this story? FSeditor@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 206.
This year’s semifinalists were selected from 1,608 entrants.
Waters’s parents, who are both attorneys, said they always knew he was destined for greatness. “We almost lost him at birth,” said his father, Winston. “We got to the hospital and my wife had an emergency C-section.”
“The placenta broke, and he wasn’t breathing when he was born,” said his mother, Miriam. “He started breathing on his own.”
“We knew God really had a special purpose for him,” Winston Waters added.
In addition to excelling in science, Waters is the president of the senior class and the Model United Nations Club. He was Homecoming King, and he is a member of the Future Business Leaders of America, Global Links, Key Club, and the math, science and National Honor societies.
How does he do it? “No sleep,” Waters joked.
Many nights, his mother said, he is up until 3 a.m. “I tried to stay up with him,” Miriam Waters said. “I just can’t keep that type of schedule.”
She added, “When he believes in something, he’s very passionate about it. He puts in whatever amount of time is necessary to get it done.”
“It’s really an honor to be a semifinalist,” said Winston II, who received $1,000. The school gets a matching $1,000. Waters’s mentor is a professor at Adelphi who wishes to remain anonymous, and his advisor is the school’s science research teacher, Michelle Seeley-Flannory. “It’s great to be recognized for all the hard work I put into this,” he said. “I’m grateful for all the opportunities from my mentor, and I’m grateful to my advisor for keeping me focused on the program and helping me meet all the deadlines. I’m grateful to Mr. Capozzi and all the other teachers for their support.”
Waters studied Von Hippel Lindau, or VHL, disease, which is a form of kidney cancer, he explained. “After taking a course in genetics and molecular biology at Columbia University in the summer [of 2006], I gained an interest in several different areas, and biology was an area where I didn’t focus very much. So I thought it would be interesting.
“Once I got into the lab, I was taught lab techniques and specifically learned the background of the VHL disease,” he continued. “I was basically taught how VHL normally operates in a cell, and its interaction within the cell with different proteins.”
Waters said that developing the right kinds of medicines and conducting the right kinds of tests on the body could lead to a treatment for the disease.
When he was in fourth or fifth grade, he recalled, his father cut out a Newsday article about the Intel contest and told him he could do it. “I hoped that might have been in his subconscious,” his father said.
“I’ve always had a love for science,” Winston II said. “It’s an understanding of how different things in the environment and in the world — how everything works.”
“Mrs. Seeley-Flannory’s been my science research advisor since ninth grade,” he said. “She’s been teaching me different techniques. She made sure I was always on task and met a number of different deadlines. She was helpful in making sure that I always had all the documentation prepared for all the different fairs, and she made sure that the research was going well.”
Next Wednesday, Waters will find out if he is one of the contest’s 40 finalists. Each will receive $5,000, a laptop computer and a trip to Washington, D.C., where they will compete in a week-long event with a top prize of $100,000.
Whether or not he makes it to the next round, Waters has big plans, having applied to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard. He hopes to study biomedical sciences and engineering as well as economics or finance.
“We really are grateful to the community of Elmont, which provided an excellent foundation to the children,” said Miriam Waters. Winston’s older sister, Kimberly, a sophomore at Dartmouth, is spending the year studying in Barcelona. “The teachers that they had really cared, and as parents you could ask for nothing more than caring teachers and a very warm environment for them to go to school in. That certainly contributed to their interest in learning and education.”
Miriam added, “If nothing else, this achievement can just serve to encourage not only students from Elmont but from other communities, and show them that they can not only set goals and ... believe in their goals, but they can also put a plan in action to implement them. They can reach and achieve their dreams and their goals.”
Comments about this story? FSeditor@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 206.
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