After-School Clubs at Cooper Middle School

Cooper Middle School offers a vibrant array of after-school clubs, providing students with opportunities to explore their interests, develop new skills, and connect with peers. From academic teams like Quiz Bowl, Science Olympiad, and Debate, to creative outlets such as Theater and Art Club, there’s something for everyone. These clubs foster collaboration, critical thinking, and personal growth in a supportive environment, empowering students to discover their passions and thrive both inside and outside the classroom.

Cooper Cross Country 

Congratulations to Langley’s standout athlete, the fastest girl in our first championship cross-country race at Cooper Middle School! Her determination and speed set a new standard, inspiring fellow students to pursue excellence. 

Cooper Cross Country finished up our season at Liberty Middle School for the FCPS cross country championships. The athletes throughout the year ran faster times each meet while also passing up our competition. Our fastest boy this year was Dennis Wang. Dennis showed up to practice every day and quickly became a leader on the team! Our top girl this year was Abby Pickard. Abby was also a leader on the team and finished first in every race this year! At the Championship meet, Abby won the whole event which included over 100 girl runners! The girl's team also placed 7^th out of all the middle schools in FCPS showing how strong of a team they are! The boys also did great! Dennis finished first on our team placing 56^th out of 120 runners! The boy's team finished middle of the pack out of all FCPS middle schools!

Junior Japan Bowl

Cooper Middle School students excelled at the Junior Japan Bowl, demonstrating their impressive knowledge of Japanese language and culture. Their success highlights the strength of Langley's language programs and the dedication of its students. Also, Cooper Middle School’s team secured second place in the Northern Virginia Regional MATHCOUNTS competition. Their outstanding performance reflects Cooper Middle School’s strong foundation in math excellence.

Debate Team

Cooper MS Debate Team Debate Tournament #3 occurred at Westfield HS in Chantilly on Saturday, November 16^th. Our twelve teams (24 debaters) had a very strong showing! Nia Siguineau Brutus won #3 Top Speaker out of 90+ middle school debaters in Public Forum!

Of the 45+ teams competing:

• Olivia Herr and Lily Song placed #3 with an undefeated 3-0 record (their first tournament EVER was three weeks earlier)
• Hannah Goudarzi & Sofia L’Abbate placed #5 with an undefeated 3-0 record (their first tournament EVER was two weeks earlier)
• Aashna Uppalapati & Nia Siguineau Brutus placed #7 with a 2-1 record
• Five additional Cooper MS teams earned top placements with 2-1 records: Chelsea Zeng and Ahaana Sabari Rajan, Kaya Ozkan and Brant Patterson, Jessica Xi and Sophie Li, Meera Bansal and Nirosha Rijal, and Saeeun Jeon and Alina Shah Mohammed. This was the first tournament for Ahaana and Nirosha.
• Strong debates all around, including Zohran Valliani and Edwin Pan, Isaac Joseph and Arjan Dhillon, Bohan Jain and Mihir Jin, and Dana and Aanya Palit.
• Every Cooper MS team won at least one round of debate, including our new debaters.

Model UN

Model UN competition (called ‘conference’) at Cooper on Oct 19^th. We brought in Cooper Model UN alumni to give a short workshop on parliamentary procedure. Then students debated a series of issues from the Status of Women to the International Olympic Committee regulation. Students did amazing work leading and participating in the conference.

Cooper's Model UN team scooped up an impressive number of awards at the GW conference in December 2024. Verbal Commendations went to Mark Throttle, Ahaana Sabari Rajan, Andrew Lin, Nader Tabandeh, Tyler Penchenik, and Arya Iyer. Honorable Mention went to Bella Wu and Benjamin Moscoso. Outstanding Delegate went to Ezgi Gursoy.

Cooper Quiz Bowl

Cooper Quiz Bowl competed in the TJ High School Novice Tournament held at TJHSST on 11/23. The tournament attracted 12 local high school novice teams, 9 middle school teams, and 3 elementary school teams.

Cooper A: Leo W., Ian C., and Ananda A. went 10-0 and won the tournament!

Cooper B: Andrew D., Richard D., Andrew L., and Isaac L. went 9-1 and placed 2nd!

Cooper C: Sohum D., Ethan C., Dhruv R., and Mihir J. went 8-2 and placed 7th!

Cooper D: Oliver Y., Sophie J., Justin L., A.J. G. went 7-3 and placed 9th!

Individually Leo was the highest scorer of the field in the preliminary rounds. Andrew D., Sohum, Ian placed 7th, 8th and 10th respectively.

Burleigh Manor Quiz Bowl Middle School Invitational is the largest regional tournament in the DMV area with 48 teams in the field. Cooper sent three teams on 11/17. Cooper A (Leo W., Ian C., Richard D., Ananda A., Keshavan N.) went 10-0 and won the tournament! Cooper B (Andrew D., Andrew L., Isacc L., Sophie J., Orion Q.) won 4th place. Cooper C (Ethan C., Sohum D., A.J. G., Dhruv R., Mihir J.) placed 10th! Both A & B qualified for the Middle School National Championship through this tournament.

Individually Leo placed 2nd, Andrew D. 4th, Ian 9th, and Ethan 19th and got individual awards.

Cooper Quiz Bowl pulled off another win at the Katherine Johnson MS Invitational in Fairfax, VA in December 2024. Cooper A (Ian C., Andrew D., Richard D.) went 8-0 and won the tournament. Cooper C (Sohum D., A.J. G/, Dhruv R., Mihir J.) placed 5th, Cooper B (Sophie J., Oliver Y., Ananda A., Keshavan N.) placed 9th out of a field of 24 local schools.

CMS Theater 

Overall, Cooper Middle School’s production of the play “Elsewhere” was admirably done. Ensemble scenes were swift and flowed well, the leads were all incredibly talented, and the featured characters brought mighty strength even with small roles. Cooper Middle School tackled a very difficult show, and produced an astonishing performance

Cooper Middle School’s performance of Elsewhere was a captivating journey. The hard work of the entire cast and crew was evident while watching it. From fun moments with exciting choreography to complex scene changes executed by the shift crew, there was no dull moment while watching this cast pour their hearts out on stage. 

Science Olympiad 

Rickards Science Olympiad Invitational (RSOI)

RSOI is a Division B (middle school) national invitational including 94 schools and 218 teams. Cooper sent 2 teams to compete. 

Congratulations to our Cooper students who medaled (up to 15th place) at RSOI!

Tower - 1st place, Christopher K./ Oliver L.

Scrambler - 2nd place, Rahula A./ Sean K.

Write It, Do It - 4th place, Christopher K./ Sophie L. 

Air Trajectory - 6th place, Landon Y./ Oliver Y.

Helicopter - 8th place, Landon Y./ Oliver Y.

Experimental Design - 9th place, Aarik K./Sophie L./ Cheney Z.

Fossils - 11th place, Bryan T./ Chelsea Z.

Cooper MS Team Radar, 17th place overall