Vinewood Center for Children and Families named Tracy resident Samina Masood as the nonprofit’s new director in January.

Masood has lived in Tracy five years and most recently worked for the Children’s Home of Stockton. She started as a social worker in Pakistan, where she grew up, and holds master’s degrees in journalism and clinical psychology.

Vinewood offers counseling to local students and helps more than 300 students a year.

West High teams win robotics contests

Three robotics teams from West High School’s Space and Engineering Academy won first place at the Vex Robotics Regional Tournament in Ceres on Feb. 20. The three teams chose to form an alliance together for the final elimination tournament, and their alliance won the tournament.

This is the second win this year for Wolf Pack Robotics team Alpha: juniors Andrew Brandes, Peter Caraway, Salman Kahn and Krishna Manikkavelu and sophomore Brandon Styczinski; and the first win for teams Beta and Delta: senior Dustin Bayer, juniors Wayse Akbar, Michael Hermosilla and Christian Mazon, sophomore Sunny Brar and freshmen Maxwell Gibbard, Daniel Morataya and Imran Kahn.

Each team designed and built its own robot starting in October. All three teams qualified to enter the Vex Robotics World Championship in April in Dallas.

Local speaker competes at regional level

Tracy High School junior Jasmyne Sermano placed fifth in the American Legion’s regional speech contest Feb. 28. She competed against students from five other areas of the state and won a $700 scholarship.

Williams student places 2nd with essay

Natalie Pearlman, an eighth-grade student at Williams Middle School, placed second in the Veterans of Foreign Wars district-level essay contest. Natalie won first place in the local contest in January.

The topic for the contest was “When is the best time to honor our military heroes?”

She won a trophy and $225.

Sophomores earn honorable mentions

Tracy High School sophomore Upinderpreet Gill and West High School sophomore Emily Sorg received honorable mentions in the Rotary Club’s regional speech contest Feb. 25. The topic was “The future is in our hands.”

• Accolades runs in Our Town whenever we hear about someone who has done something extraordinary and deserves kudos for it. If you have news for Accolades, send it to tpourtown@tracypress.com.