Student
Awards
 Kyle
Freas, a senior at Plano West Senior High School, captured,
for the second consecutive
year, the Prudential Spirit of Volunteerism Top High
School Volunteer of the Year Award. He was named among
America’s 102 most outstanding
youth volunteers – two from each state and the District of
Columbia – through the annual awards program honoring
young people for exemplary acts of volunteerism. Kyle
founded a nonprofit organization called “Youth Together” that
encourages students at elementary and middle schools
to participate in a variety of projects to help homeless, abused
and critically
ill children.
A record 115 senior students achieved Semifinalist standing in the
National Merit Scholarship Program, based on their performance on
the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test. These academically gifted
students are among 16,000 of their peers nationwide who represent
less than one percent of high school seniors.
Plano ISD’s gradating class scored higher at every rank-in-class
level than comparable students across the United States on the 2006
Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and American College Test (ACT). Plano
ISD's 2006 SAT combined math, critical reading and writing score of
1,695 is among the highest in the nation for large school districts.
Recent statistics reflect that 87% of Plano ISD high school students
scored the equivalent of a "B" or better in college level
English, 74% in college algebra and 53% in college biology.
 Plano
Senior High School's Academic Decathlon Team captured the
state championship and advanced to win fourth
place at the 2007 national finals. This marks the
second consecutive year that PSHS teammates have
won state and competed nationally. In 2006,
PSHS teammates won the national second place trophy.
Plano ISD students continue to dominate regional and state science
fair competitions and earn prestigious international awards and scholarships.
Secondary science fair students brought home 23 first place, 28 second
place, 24 third place, 60 honorable mentions and 79 special awards
from the 50th Annual Beal Bank Dallas Regional Science and Engineering
Fair held on March 25. At the Texas State Science and Engineering
Fair, Anita Chandrahas, Rice Middle School, won 2nd Grand Prize for
the Physical Science Fair Junior Division; Jean Shiao, Jasper High
School, earned Reserve Grand Prize for the Physical Science Fair Senior
Division. Plano students also captured eight first place awards, six
second place awards, 11 third place awards, five fourth place awards,
13 honorable mentions, 14 special awards and senior division scholarships
totaling nearly $70,000.
 More
than 150 eighth grade Advanced Placement (AP) Spanish students sat
for the AP Spanish Language Exam in May, 2007, to earn college credit.
The new program is a cooperative endeavor between Plano ISD’s
Secondary ESL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and LOTE (Languages
Other Than English).
Amy Chyao, Murphy Middle School seventh grade student, captured the
regional spelling bee championship for the second
consecutive year in March, 2007. With the victory,
the seventh-grader from Murphy Middle School once again
advanced to the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee.
Six Plano ISD students captured Semifinalist
standing in the
Intel Science Talent Search, a competition often called
the “Junior Nobel Prize.” Among 300 students
awarded from across
the United States and 16 students awarded from Texas were
Arhana Chattopadhyay and Sai Prasanth Venkateswaran,
Plano East Senior High School; and Gabriel Ha, Aatman
Shah, Louisa Xu and Sunshine Zhou, Plano Senior High.
Plano ISD orchestras began the 2006-07 school year on a high note,
celebrating invitations from the Texas Music Educators
Association. Plano Senior High School’s Full Orchestra was
selected as the 2007 TMEA Honor Orchestra. The combined
group of strings, winds and percussion was under the
direction of Jeff Turner and Jeremy Kondrat. The group
performed at TMEA’s convention mid-February in San Antonio.
Haggard Middle School's Full Orchestra also earned
the TMEA Honor Orchestra title as did the Plano Children's
Chorale, a select fifth grade chorus, for the first
time. Plano ISD orchestras have earned the prestigious
honor designation for 10
consecutive years.
Plano Senior High School
Women's Choir performed by invitation at the American
Choral Directors Convention in Miami in March. The
group presented three outstanding concerts in various
venues around the Miami area for audiences comprising
choral directors from across the nation.
 Anne-Marie
Hwang from Brinker Elementary competed in the National PTA
Reflections Contest, after winning the state competition
with her artwork. The Plano ISD Council
of PTAs sent a total of 43 student works to the state
Reflections contest, of which 17 earned “excellence” and “merit” awards.
The remaining 26 earned “honorable
mentions.
Eighteen students
from Plano high schools were accepted to the Texas
Academy of Mathematics and Science for
fall 2007. TAMS is a two-year residential program
at the University of North Texas
that allows talented students to complete their
freshman and sophomore years of college while earning
their high school diplomas.
In sports, two state championship teams emerged from Plano West
Senior High School (PWSH).
The Lady Wolves Soccer Team and PWSH's Team Tennis
captured top trophies. In basketball, Plano West girls
finished the season in the regional semi-finals, and
Plano Senior High School (PSHS) boys finished in the
regional quarterfinals. At the state swim meet, PSHS
boys finished third, and PSHS girls won fourth place.
First place medals were earned by PSHS's Genny Konicke
(50-yard freestyle) and
Plano West's Kellyn Kuhlke (100-yard breast stroke).
Five wrestlers from Plano ISD qualified
for the state tournament, with PWSH's Peter
Lindahl earning a silver medal. As a result of their
achievements, Plano West won the prestigious UIL
Lone Star Cup in 2007.
 Plano
East Theater advanced to the regional contest in 2007
for the sixth time in seven years, as students
continued their quest for a second consecutive state
title. The students advanced from the Area contest
with their production of ANATOMY OF GRAY by Jim Leonard.
Allan Kahn was named best actor, Allison Ebling was
named to the all star cast, Bethany Law was selected
to the honorable mention all star
cast, and stage manager Zoey Copeland was named to
the all star technical crew.
Out of nearly 1,000 nominations, Andrew Cely, a student at Schimelpfenig
Middle School was recognized in the Nestlé Very Best In Youth
search as one of 27 of America’s most extraordinary young people.
The award program pays tribute to young people who
are committed to academic excellence and who are devoted to leading
a generation of
positive change within their communities.
Three Plano ISD students - Vybhavi Bharadwaj, Renner
Middle School; Neil D'Souza, Vines High School; and
Ellen Hsieh, Jasper High School - earned Semifinalist
standing in the prestigious "Discovery Young Scientist Challenge." They
are among 400 semifinalists selected from 43 states and
Puerto Rico.
Thirteen Plano ISD “Destination ImagiNation” teams advanced
to the Texas DI competition. A team from Jackson Elementary
School captured first place, advancing to DI Global
Finals held in May in Tennessee.
Plano West Senior High School Cadet Ben Prager captured a second
place national award in the U.S. Army JROTC program
essay contest. His essay was among three winners out of 400 essays
submitted. Cadets at all three senior high schools underwent their
triennial
formal inspections, conducted by the Department of
the Army. The inspections resulted in "Honor Unit with Distinction" ratings
for cadets, ranking them among the top 10% of Army JROTC units worldwide.
Nearly 800
students were
honored by the Plano ISD Board of Trustees in May,
2007, for their achievements earned during the 2006-07
school year.
|
