Accamando and Winkowski named Brentwood scholar athletes of the Year

By: Ray Fisher
Thursday, July 18, 2019 | 1:11 PM

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Sporting a 4.101 GPA and top-10 class rank while serving as Technology Student Association president, Simon Accamando wasn’t flummoxed by much during his 2018-19 senior year at Brentwood.

However, he was pleasantly surprised by the announcement at the Brentwood High Athletic Boosters all-sports banquet that he was named senior male scholar-athlete of the year.

It was well-deserved.

“I was caught by surprise when I learned I had won the award,” said Accamando, who graduated ninth in his class of 77. “It was an honor to be recognized for not only my athletic abilities but also my scholastic abilities.”

Julianna Winkowski was lauded as the senior female scholar-athlete of the year.

“Julianna and Simon were students in good standing at Brentwood,” said guidance counselor Linda Capozzoli. “They challenged themselves with Advanced Placement and honors courses, earning good grades and participating in team sports.”

Accamando, 18, participated in three sports in high school, going from soccer in the fall to swimming in the winter to track and field in the spring. He earned eight varsity letters, including for four soccer and three for swimming.

“Soccer was my favorite sport to participate in,” he said, “because while both track and swimming were team sports, soccer was the only one where the athletes on the team actually relied on each other in order to win.”

Accamando was a Technology Student Association member for two years, assuming the prestigious presidency role in his senior year.

“I worked closely with my officers (vice president, secretary, reporter, treasurer and sergeant at arms) to organize fundraisers and direct our members in their various events,” Accamando said. “We handled all monies, hotels and contacts with the state organization.”

Technology Student Association is a national organization of students engaged in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

As an active member TSA member, it was perhaps only natural that Accamando enjoyed studying the laws of physics while in the classroom.

“My favorite subject in high school was physics with Mr. (Christopher) Chatham,” he said, “because as we learned new topics that were different, we started connecting them all into complex problems made of smaller problems.

“Some of my best memories from Brentwood are from the TED (Technology Engineering Design) class. This is the class where we competed in the Pittsburgh Science Center’s chain reaction competition, vex robotics competition, and many other STEM-based contests. My favorite memories come from our TSA state competitions where we go to Seven Springs and compete in our events, but after that, the remaining time we had was ours to do with what we wanted.”

Accamando also was a member of the German Club throughout his high school career.

He plans to attend college in a unique “two-and-two” program, studying at both Indiana (Pa.) University and Pitt.

“It’s a program where I attend each school for two years in pursuit of a pre-engineering degree,” he said.

Until then, he’s taking a short break and appreciating his summer vacation time.

Tags: Brentwood