Whiz Kid: Samantha Wright

Name: Samantha Wright, 17 years old

School: Pelham Memorial High School

Accomplishment: Advanced to the state level of the science Olympiad 

Key to Awesomeness:

Samantha Wright, a junior at Pelham Memorial High School, seems to have it all. She plays soccer and softball at the varsity level, writes for the school newspaper and, most recently, was inducted into the National Honor Society. But what really grabs this active and studious teen is pouring over physics problems.

“I am really involved with the sciences at my school,” Samantha said. “I am way more interested in physics, the more mathematical and logical side of sciences.”

Samantha’s love for everything physics made her joining the Olympiad team an obvious choice. This group of about 30 students applied their classroom knowledge to building robots, towers and the like back in January. Pelham’s team competed at the regional science level and made it all the way to the state competition.

Samantha credits her love for the subject to her impassioned—and recently --teacher, Dave Schembari.

“I really owe my admiration to the sciences completely to him,” Samantha shared. “He works with students on their level and gives them a chance to develop. He always challenges me and I like that.”

Prior to getting involved in the physics side of things at school, Samantha was leaning toward pursuing a career in journalism or psychology. But, now, that she’s a rising star in the science department—one teacher even remarked that she could go on to become one of the great female engineers from PMHS—Samantha’s starting to consider other options.

 “I was always interested in psychology and journalism before. Now, I think that maybe there are some other things I should explore and keep an open mind,” Samantha said. "I think it would be cool to be a woman specializing in something few people can understand.”