Obama meets Turkish school’s award-winning students


Date posted: October 21, 2010

Four students from the Pinnacle Academy, established by Turkish entrepreneurs in the greater Washington, D.C., area, were at the White House on Monday to present their project, which took first place in the National Engineers Week Future City Competition in the capital’s metropolitan area in February.

On Monday President Barack Obama hosted the White House Science Fair to honor the winners of a series of competitions in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

At the fair, Obama viewed winning student projects and took the time to congratulate the students on their hard work and stressed the importance of technology and engineering in middle school education.

Eighth grade students Zehra Yılmaz, Selin Altıntaş, Nurbanu Şimşek and Madina Khurishanova from the Pinnacle Academy in Oakton, Virginia, represented Washington, D.C., at the 2010 Future City Competition National Finals. The team developed a digital and three-dimensional model of Yeshilist, an imaginary city that anticipates the accommodation needs of citizens who lose their homes during an earthquake. “Yeshilist has solar panel roofs, wind-powered community centers, cork brick homes and cable trains made of Lego pieces that are scattered around the city. The National Engineers’ Week Future City Competition promotes engineering as a creative profession by challenging middle school students to design their vision of the city of tomorrow through computer simulation and a three-dimensional model.

obama-02Principal of the school Mustafa Akpınar said the Pinnacle Academy’s presence at such an important event is an honor for the students and the school. “This event highlights how the Pinnacle Academy is succeeding in our goal to provide a quality education that emphasizes math, science and technology. As an educational community, the Pinnacle Academy hopes to build upon these successes,” he said.

Original story was publish on Today’s Zaman on 21 October 2010, Thursday at http://www.todayszaman.com/news-224954-104-obama-meets-turkish-schools-award-winning-students.html 

The celebration was announced on White House official web site as well: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/10/18/president-obama-host-white-house-science-fair

 


Related News

Head of Azerbaijan’s Çağ Education Company denies authenticity of letter to Gülen

Enver Özeren, head of the executive board of Azerbaijan’s Çağ Education Company, has denied the authenticity of a letter he had supposedly written to Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen about the Hizmet movement in Azerbaijan, saying that the letter is nothing more than an attempt to pull Azerbaijan into the domestic turmoil.

Hate Crime: Lists of “Gulen pupils” circulating in Amsterdam

Lists are circulating in Amsterdam containing the names of Turkish students in Amsterdam schools, with details on who supports Fethullah Gulen and Who Supports Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan. About 150 primary school students did not show up for school this week due to “intimidation and bullying” related to tensions in the Turkish community. The municipality deployed extra education inspectors to visit parents who are keeping their children home from school.

Heightened anxieties in Kosovo after arrest of ‘Gulenist educator’

A civil servant: “Tens of thousands of people, educated people, academics, journalists, lawyers, and many others, are scattered around the world for different reasons and are trying to find a safe place where they can be sheltered and continue their lives with their families. The Ugur Toksoy case was the point when Kosovo’s level of safety, or its breaking point, was put to test.”

Ex-CIA Director: Mike Flynn and Turkish Officials Discussed Removal of Gulen from U.S. without Going through Legal Process

James Woolsey says he attended a September meeting where other participants, including then-Trump adviser Mike Flynn, talked of moving Fethullah Gulen back to Turkey without going through U.S. extradition process.

Ambassadors uneasy over Erdoğan’s orders concerning graft probe

Turkey’s ambassadors have expressed displeasure over Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s remarks that called on them to “tell the truth” to their foreign interlocutors, saying that defending the government against corruption allegations in not the ambassadors’ business.

Laotian minister: I feel lucky my son studies at Turkish school

Dr. Bosengkham Vongdara, minister of information, culture and tourism of Laos said during a science festival organized by the Turkish Eastern Star Bilingual School held recently that he feels lucky his son studies in the Turkish school.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

A study tour of Turkey with Gulen movement

Cartoonists put Refugees’ Plight on Canvas

Why Kimse Yok Mu probe may affect education in Nigeria

Poconos-Based Muslim Preacher Addresses Catholic-Muslim Dialogue Conference

‘Portraying Hizmet against settlement process groundless’

66 U.S. senators sign letter asking Turkey to release Pastor Andrew Brunson

Exiled cleric Gulen explains why he thinks Erdogan has branded him a terrorist

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News