For the past three months, Moravian Academy has remained open full-time. Students have a flexible daily option of either attending school in-person or virtually. Whether it be on campus or through Zoom, students at Moravian Academy have quickly jumped into action by making the most out of current circumstances.

The reopening of school was ushered in with another historic fall sports season. The boys soccer team secured their seventh consecutive District XI Championship by scoring an impressive 6-0 win in the finals. The girls soccer team won three consecutive district tournaments, and advanced to the state quarterfinals for the first time in the program’s history. Moravian’s girls tennis team also competed at state finals, and the varsity field hockey team earned a district silver medal. The boys and girls cross country teams raced to the podium, placing second and third, respectively, at districts.

Apart from sport teams sprinting on grassy fields and clay courts, both in-person and virtual students regularly engage in large video conferencing sessions for clubs and assemblies. Moravian’s Business Club is currently preparing for the virtual Pennsylvania DECA state event in February, and the Speech and Debate team will compete at a virtual Pennsylvania-New Jersey State Invitational in January. Moravian Academy also upholds treasured traditions in a virtual setting. From music to mixed media presentations, students are submitting pre-recorded acts for the annual variety show, Coffeehouse, to be streamed at the end of December.

In addition to group activities, students at Moravian Academy also consider applied research opportunities as an integral part of their education, even if conducted virtually. Junior Mikail Jaffer connected with CovidScan.AI, a Texas-based company that harnesses artificial intelligence to detect and classify severe COVID-19 cases through radiological imaging of the lungs. Mikail has specifically contributed from a business standpoint, hoping to bring it to the market.

“AI detection for many illnesses, diseases and medical conditions has already been made, and we hope to take the initiative to commercialize it,” Mikail said. “We want to make this technology available to everyone, including those in areas that lack resources.”

Senior Claudia Hernandez took her research from Earth to outer space, as she landed a Planetary Spectrum Generator internship under NASA researchers Dr. Geronimo Villanueva, the scientist who discovered Mars’ ancient ocean, and Dr. Sara Faggi. As part of her work, Claudia designed a web interface and graphic visualizer named “ICE-COLD” and presented her findings to NASA this past month. The novel interactive tool, which will serve as a NASA repository, analyzes comets by composition for scientists to utilize as they research possibilities of life in other parts of the solar system.

“The work initiated by Claudia will ultimately permit the general community to effectively relate and compare cometary abundances to our extensive NASA Goddard molecular database,” Dr. Villanueva explained. “Such a tool is of great value when discerning the origin and evolution of comets and small icy primordial bodies. Comets are cryogenically preserved relics of the early times of our Solar System, and they can help provide key insights regarding the origin and evolution of life on Earth and in the Solar System.”

“It was absolutely incredible and exciting to know I was creating something that NASA scientists would use regularly in their research,” Claudia said. “Luckily, programming is something that is easily shared in a virtual setting. The main drawback was not being able to enjoy being there and meeting with the whole team in person.

“There are many opportunities and I would love to continue research along these lines,” Claudia added. “I’ve already been contacted by some interested parties to have me work on another tool utilizing machine learning to study clouds on Mars. I find it fascinating and hope to be a part of making some groundbreaking discoveries about our solar system and beyond.”

From a successful sports season to individualized research with professionals in the industry, students strive to embody Moravian Academy’s mission skills: perseverance and creativity to pursue our passions, even if it takes place online.