Maharishi School, the K-12 school on the MIU campus, completed another successful year. For one thing, for the fourth consecutive year Niche.com, a key search tool in the US and international market for comparing schools, ranked Maharishi School #1 in Iowa in these categories: 

• Best Private High School
• Best Private K-12 School
• Best Boarding High School
• Most Diverse Private High School

And new this year: Maharishi School is Iowa’s Best High School for STEM (science, technology, engineering, math), according to Niche.com.

The school ended the year with another blast of student achievements:

Rocketry

The Maharishi School team qualified for The American Rocketry Challenge (TARC) Nationals in Virginia as one of the top 100 in the nation. There they finished 17th in the US, out of almost 800 original entries, which also qualifies the team to apply for the NASA Student Launch Program next year.  

Robotics

Our team in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition advanced to the Super-Qualifier round in the Iowa state tournaments.  

Destination Imagination

Our Upper School team advanced to the international Global Finals in Kansas City and finished first in Instant Challenge and 7th overall  in their Secondary Technical category. This is the first time a Maharishi School team has won the Instant Challenge award.  

Tennis

Both our girls and boys teams advanced to the “Sweet 16” in the state competition. Junior Ishita Mukadam earned a trip to the State Singles tournament and finished 7th, the first girl to place at State since 2011.  

Soccer & golf

Maharishi School students participated with Fairfield High School teams in soccer and golf. Devrishi Eisner earned all-conference recognition in golf.  

Science research

The school participated in multiple science fairs with achievements in each. At the Hawkeye State Science Fair, Maharishi School students placed 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Honorable Mention in their categories. Ishita Mukadam earned an invitation to the National Junior Symposium in Virginia to present her research project. Poojita Mukadam received an invitation to observe at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Dallas.  

Global solutions class

Academic Director Kaye Jacob and community leader Anne Walton developed a new capstone course for our seniors in which teams identified social issues, generated practical solutions, and prepared presentations for a panel of experts evaluation. Topics included affordable and sustainable housing, assisting low income students with college preparedness, reducing waste, providing clothing for those in need, and developing an affordable drone security system to enhance safety.  

College acceptances

Our 17 multicultural seniors were accepted at universities across the United States, including UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, Purdue, the University of Iowa, Iowa State, Grinnell, and Emerson College (Boston). Four will be attending Maharishi International University.  

Thank you to Michelle Paton for her contribution to this story.