At the May 19 Plano ISD Board of Trustees meeting, the board had the privilege of recognizing a variety of Plano ISD individuals and groups who exemplify excellence, dedication and the spirit of being Plano ISD Proud.

TEPSA Leadership Awards

Student leaders from Hedgecoxe Elementary and Sigler Elementary were recognized for receiving the 2025-2026 Student Leadership Awards from the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association (TEPSA.)

Pictured from left to right: Board Vice President Nancy Humphrey with Hedgecoxe students

Pictured from left to right: Board Vice President Nancy Humphrey with Sigler students

National PTA Reflections

For more than 50 years, the National PTA Reflections program has encouraged students nationwide to express themselves through the arts, and this year’s theme, “I Belong,” inspired remarkable creativity across Plano ISD. Volunteers from 37 Plano PTAs reviewed student submissions, with 212 entries advancing to District Council judging and 25 moving on to Texas PTA state competition, where 21 earned awards.

Plano ISD is especially proud to recognize Samvarth Seegehalli, a 10th-grade student from Jasper High School, who advanced to the National level with his music composition, “Echoes of Home.” His achievement reflects both his talent and the strength of arts education across the district.

Pictured from left to right: Board Vice President Nancy Humphrey, Samvarth Seegehalli, and a PTA representative.

National History Day

Plano East Senior High School students were recognized for earning national qualification in the National History Day program, a distinction that reflects months of research, scholarship and presentation. These students not only advanced to the national competition this year, but also returned as qualifiers from last year, demonstrating exceptional consistency and academic excellence.

Congratulations to the following honorees:

• Arko Barua
• Arya Gurumukhi
• Collin Nguyen
• Nandith Sharath
• Amrutha Veeramaneni

In the category of Individual Exhibit, the district also recognized:

• Ana Spiride

Pictured from left to right: Board Vice President Nancy Humphrey, Ana Spiride, Arya Gurumukhi, Amrutha Veeramaneni, Nadith Sharath, Arko Barua, Collin Nguyen and Rhett Carter

Special recognition was also given to Plano East History Day sponsor Mr. Rhett Carter, whose dedication goes far beyond the classroom. In addition to his roles as a teacher and department chair, Mr. Carter spends countless hours mentoring and traveling with students, helping Plano ISD send more students to state competition than any other school in the Dallas region. This year, he also received the David C. DeBoe History Day Teacher of the Year Award from the Texas State Historical Association.

Pictured from left to right:Board Vice President Nancy Humphrey and Rhett Carter

DECA International Career Development Conference

Plano ISD students earned standout results at the DECA International Career Development Conference, one of the organization’s premier events for marketing, finance, hospitality and business leadership students. DECA’s competitive events are built around real-world business and leadership skills, which makes these achievements especially meaningful for students preparing for college and careers. This year, Plano East and Plano West students earned top international finishes, as well as finalist and qualifier spots, in a wide range of categories, including finance, marketing, travel and tourism, business services, and team decision-making. This year's state contest was held in Dallas and nationals were in Atlanta.

Plano East Senior High School

• Aakash Arulkumaran, International 1st Place in Quick Service Restaurant Management
• Ashraf Kuzbari, International 2nd Place in Principles of Finance
• Ananya Javali, International Finalist in Apparel and Accessories Marketing Series
• Sanjeev Gedela, International Top 10 in Food Marketing Series
• Kalu Aberra, International Qualifier in Sports and Entertainment Marketing Series
• Kareem Hassanien, International Qualifier in Business Services Marketing Series
• Iyanu Shosanya, International Qualifier in Apparel and Accessories Marketing Series
• Ayaan Notta, International Qualifier in Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making
• Lakshman Vennamanenni, International Qualifier in Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making
• Shiyans Gupta, International Qualifier in Travel & Tourism Team Decision Making
• Ashwin Goel, International Qualifier in Travel & Tourism Team Decision Making
• Samedh Davuluri, International Qualifier, Sports and Entertainment Operations Research
• Noah Rahman, International Qualifier in Sports and Entertainment Operations Research
• Sophia Le, State Finalist in Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making
• Sahana Anand, State Finalist in Buying and Merchandising Team Decision Making
• Swathi Parameshwar, State Finalist in Hospitality Services Team Decision Making
• Reyah Makkar, State Finalist in Hospitality Services Team Decision Making

Pictured from left to right: Board Vice President Nancy Humphrey and Aakash Arulkumaran

Plano West Senior High School

• Ali-Sadeeq Sayyed, International Qualifier, Business Finance Series
• Lakshit Ahura, International Qualifier, Principles of Finance
• Dhwani Mittal, International Qualifier, Accounting Applications Series

SkillsUSA State Leadership and Skills Conference

SkillsUSA Texas hosted its State Leadership and Skills Conference in Corpus Christi, bringing together students who competed in career-ready technical and leadership events across the state. Plano West students earned multiple state championships and national qualifier spots in audio production, audio video quiz bowl, customer service, video production and job interview, while Plano East students earned silver finishes in Audio Video Quiz Bowl. These results highlight both technical skill and professional preparedness, two core goals of the SkillsUSA program.

Plano West Senior High School

• Kelly Morefield, State Champion National Qualifier in Audio Production, Bronze in Customer Service
• Selma Zamarripa, State Champion National Qualifier in Audio Production
• Laura Gallego, State Champion in Audio Video Quiz Bowl, Bronze in Video Production
• Noah Eriksson, State Champion in Audio Video Quiz Bowl, Bronze in Video Production
• Addison Landry, State Champion in Audio Video Quiz Bowl
• Kiersten Bell, State Champion in Audio Video Quiz Bowl
• Daniella Rashdi, State Champion in Audio Video Quiz Bowl
• Athena Brewer, State Champion in Audo Video Quiz Bowl, Bronze in Job Interview

Pictured from left to right: Board Vice President Nancy Humphrey, Kelly Morefield, Selma Zamarripa, Noah Eriksson and Sarah Mateo

Plano East Senior High School

• Juan Cantero, Silver in Audio Video Quiz Bowl
• Ethan Nguyen, Silver in Audio Video Quiz Bowl
• Emily Christman, Silver in Audio Video Quiz Bowl
• Abigail Masters, Silver in Audio Video Quiz Bowl
• Omar Siddiqui, Silver in Audio Video Quiz Bowl
• Vanessa Segura, Silver in Audio Video Quiz Bowl

BPA State and National Competitions

Business Professionals of America is a career and technical student organization focused on business, office, technology and leadership skills, with students advancing from state competition to the national stage. This year's state contest was held in Dallas, while nationals took place in Nashville. Students from Academy, Jasper, McMillen, Plano East and Plano West earned state titles as well as national qualifications and in categories ranging from accounting and banking to web design, programming, podcasting, social media marketing and professional skills. The breadth of events shows how strongly Plano ISD students are performing across both business fundamentals and emerging digital fields.

Academy High School

• Jason Cheung, State 1st Place National Qualifier in Device Configuration & Troubleshooting
• Michael Wu, State 6th Place National Qualifier in Device Configuration & Troubleshooting

Jasper High School

• Claire Wang, State 1st Place National Qualifier in Fundamental Accounting
• Ashika Cherukuri, State 2nd Place National Qualifier in Banking & Finance
• Lillian Qian, State 4th Place National Qualifier in Payroll Accounting
• Omar Kamal, State 8th Place National Qualifier in Computer Network Technology

McMillen High School

• Ishaan Singla, State 8th Place National Qualifier, Legal Office Procedures

Plano East Senior High School

• Ananya Javali, National Champion in Podcasting Production Team, State 1st Place Qualifier in Podcast Production Team
• Anirudh Sai Narayanan, National 2nd Place in User Design Team, State 3rd Place National Qualifier in User Design Team, State 5th Place National Qualifier in Fundamentals of Web Design
• Reyah Makkar, National Champion in Podcasting Production Team, State 1st Place National Qualifier in Podcasting Production Team
• Swathi Parameshwar, National Champion in Podcasting Production Team, State 1st Place National Qualifier, Podcasting Production Team
• Aayush Patel, National 2nd Place in User Design Team, State 3rd Place National Qualifier in User Design Team
• Akshaj Bansal, National 2nd Place in User Design team, State 3rd Place National Qualifier in User Design Team
• Ayaan Notta, National 2nd Place in User Design Team, State 3rd Place National Qualifier in User Design Team
• Aakash Arulkumaran, State 1st Place National Qualifier in Small Business Management Team
• Tarwat Chodhury, National 3rd Place in Ethics & Professionalism, State 1st Place National Qualifier in Ethics & Professionalism, State 1st Place National Qualifier in Small Business Management

Pictured from left to right: Board Vice President Nancy Humphrey, students Swathi Parameshwar, Ananya Javali and Reyah Makkar

Plano West Senior High School

• Marcus Chung, National Top 10 in Advanced Accounting
• Ida Zou, State 5th Place National Qualifier in Fundamental Word Processing
• Shreshth Dewangan, State 6th Place National Qualifier in Advanced Office Systems & Procedures
• Joshua Gan, National Top 10 in Advanced Spreadsheet Applications, State 1st Place National Qualifier in Advanced Spreadsheet Applications
• Emily Dong, State 1st Place National Qualifier in Administrative Support Team
• Fay Xu, State 1st Place National Qualifier in Administrative Support Team
• Shreyansh Maheshwari, National 3rd Place in C# Programming, State 4th Place National Qualifier in C# Programming
• Moksh Thaker, National Top 10 in C# Programming, State 7th Place in C# Programming
• Goutham Ronanki, National Top 10 in Interview Skills, State 1st Place National Qualifier in Interview Skills
• Sanvi Porwal, National 3rd Place in Prepared Speech, State 1st Place National Qualifier in Prepared Speech
• Egagra Dwivedi, National 1st Place in Social Media Marketing Campaign Team
• Aabid Gaffar, National 1st Place in Social Media Marketing Campaign Team
• Akhil Krishnakumar, National 1st Place in Social Media Marketing Campaign Team

Visual Arts Honors

Plano ISD also celebrated outstanding student artists in several state and national competitions. In the State Visual Arts Scholastic Event, medalists competed for Gold Seal recognition, an honor reserved for the top 1% of artwork at the state level. Plano ISD is proud to recognize its four Gold Seal recipients:

• Aden Tran, 10th grade, Plano East Senior High

• Zak Ferenczhalmy, 11th grade, Plano East Senior High

• Sisira Dhulipalla, 11th grade, Plano West Senior High

• Mosami Masingka, 10th grade, Jasper High School

Pictured from left to right: Students Sisira Dhulipalla, Zak Ferenczhalmy, Aden Tran, Mosami Masingka and Board Vice President Nancy Humphrey

In addition, Isabella Wang, a 12th-grade student from Plano West Senior High, earned a Regional Gold Key in the Southwest United States and will advance to the national competition.

Pictured from left to right: Board Vice President Nancy Humphrey, student Isabella Wang

Animation and Digital Art

Plano East Senior High School freshmen were also recognized for their creativity in the New York Short Animation Festival. This IMDb-qualifying festival showcases animated work from emerging and professional artists alike. Congratulations to:

• Ishva Aalia

• Daniela Cruz Medina

• McKenzie Fulton

• Seoyeong Jeong

All four Plano East students were accepted into the exhibit for their work, further showcasing the strength of student storytelling and digital creativity in Plano ISD.

Pictured from left to right: Board Vice President Nancy Humphrey, students McKenzie Fulton, Daniela Cruz Median and Ishva Aalia

Doodle for Google

Plano ISD also celebrated Skaggs Elementary student David Bae, who was recently selected as a finalist in the 2025-2026 Doodle for Google contest, which featured the theme “My superpower is...”

Pictured from left to right: Board Vice President Nancy Humphrey and student David Bae

Student Scientist Honorees

Plano ISD celebrated an extraordinary group of student scientists whose research earned top honors at the Texas Junior Academy of Science, Texas Science and Engineering Fair, Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair and Regeneron Science Talent Search. These competitions recognize students who demonstrate exceptional scholarship, creativity, problem-solving and perseverance in science, technology, engineering and math.

Texas Junior Academy of Science

The first group of honorees competed in the Texas Junior Academy of Science, an annual competition that gives high school students across Texas the opportunity to present original research through formal writing and oral presentations. First-place category winners are invited to present at the American Junior Academy of Science convention, held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Plano ISD students earned outstanding results across a wide range of categories:

Jasper High School

• Jason Pi, 3rd Place, Engineering I

• Hiruni Wansapura, 2nd Place, Engineering I

McMillen High School

• Jonathan Cruz-Nagoski, 3rd Place, Environmental Science

Williams High School

• Nidhi Ajmera, 1st Place, Environmental Science

Plano East Senior High School

• Ishfa Aalia, 3rd Place, Environmental Science

• Sahana Anand, 3rd Place, Engineering I

• Vaani Chellamuthu, 1st Place, Computer Science/Mathematics II and 1st Grand Prize, Physical Sciences

• Anna Du, 3rd Place, Medicine & Health/Behavioral & Social Sciences I

• Sanabhi Gauraw, 2nd Place, Physical Sciences

• Tanvi Kumar, 2nd Place, Computer Science/Mathematics II

• Sahil Mehta, 2nd Place, Engineering I

• Ananya Nagendra, 2nd Place, Life Sciences II

• Anirudh Narayanan, 3rd Place, Engineering II

• Tisha Sinha, 2nd Place, Life Sciences I

• Vaisshnavi Sri Navaneethakrishnan, 3rd Place, Medicine & Health/Behavioral & Social Sciences I

• Ana Spiride, 1st Place, Engineering II and 2nd Grand Prize, Physical Sciences

• Vedant Sundar, 2nd Place, Physical Sciences

Plano Senior High School

• Nishka Kerkar, 3rd Place, Life Sciences II

• Sanjit Konda, 3rd Place, Computer Science/Mathematics II

• Neel Paravasthu, 2nd Place, Life Sciences II

• Aika Saadiq, 3rd Place, Physical Sciences

Plano West Senior High School

• Artina Belivan, 3rd Place, Medicine & Health/Behavioral & Social Sciences I

• Abhinav Civi, 3rd Place, Physical Sciences

• Trisha Desai, 2nd Place, Engineering II

• Kaitlyn Fan, 2nd Place, Physical Sciences

• Ainesh Gupta, 2nd Place, Engineering II

• Sean Kim, 2nd Place, Medicine & Health/Behavioral & Social Sciences I

• Andrew Lee, 3rd Place, Life Sciences I

• Goutham Ronanki, 2nd Place, Computer Science/Mathematics I

• Vijay Shivnani, 1st Place, Life Sciences I and 1st Grand Prize, Natural Sciences

• Jessica Zhang, 1st Place, Physical Sciences

Congratulations to these outstanding Plano ISD Texas Junior Academy of Science winners.

Texas Science and Engineering Fair

Plano ISD students competed at the Texas Science and Engineering Fair, a statewide competition for students in grades 6-12 who advanced from district and regional fairs. The top two finishers in each category from the Dallas regional fair traveled to College Station to compete against approximately 1,400 students from across Texas.

Otto Middle School

• Margaret Noll and Catherine Trimmell, 3rd Place, Chemistry

Rice Middle School

• Rachael Du and Ira Sen, 2nd Place, Animal Sciences

• Mia Gao and Lillian Ye, 2nd Place, Software Design

• Anjali Ipe, 2nd Place, Mathematics

• Ishaan Kothari, 1st Place, Robotics and Intelligent Machines

• Terri Lv, 3rd Place, Biomedical Engineering

• Jane Pan, 2nd Place, Chemistry

• Kurumi Shinagawa, 3rd Place, Animal Sciences

Schimelpfenig Middle School

• Madhav Anand, 2nd Place, Physics and Astronomy

Plano East Senior High School

• Abhiram Jetty, 3rd Place, Microbiology

• Ananya Nagendra, 1st Place, Animal Sciences

• Ana Spiride, 1st Place, Engineering Technology: Statics and Dynamics and Best in State Physical Sciences

Plano West Senior High School

• Aarav Bansal and Neel Tipnis, 1st Place, Robotics and Intelligent Machines

• Neel Marripalapu and Akul Kolhatkar, 3rd Place, Technology Enhances the Arts

• Aarini Sen, 3rd Place, Physics and Astronomy

• Vijay Shivnani, 2nd Place, Microbiology

Congratulations to these outstanding Plano ISD Texas Science and Engineering Fair winners.

Regeneron International Science Fair

Plano ISD celebrated students who competed at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, the world’s largest international pre-college science competition. This event brings together young scientists from around the world to share original research and compete at the highest level.

Congratulations to the following students:

Plano East Senior High School

• Arya Gurumukhi, 4th Place, Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design and the Robert Silence Memorial Citizen Scientist Sustainability Award

• Ananya Nagendra, 4th Place, Microbiology

• Pardhiva Penna, American Chemical Society Diploma of Recognition

• Ana Spiride, 1st Place, Engineering Technology: Statics and Dynamics and the Qorvo 3rd Place Innovator Award

Plano West Senior High School

• Aarini Sen, ISEF competitor

• Vijay Shivnani, 4th Place, Microbiology and the DCAT First Award

Congratulations to these outstanding Plano ISD international science competition participants.

Pictured from left to right: Board Vice President Nancy Humphrey, science teacher, Ana Spiride, Aarini Sen, Ananya Nagendra, Arya Gurumukhi, Vijay Shivnani, sience teacher and Plano ISD Secondary Science Coordinator Dr. Ashley Carter

Science Talent Search

Finally, finalists from the Regeneron Science Talent Search were also honored, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious pre-college science and math competition for high school seniors. Often called the “Super Bowl of Science,” the competition honors students conducting independent research on some of the world’s most important challenges.

Plano ISD is thrilled to recognize the following students:

Plano Senior High School

• Dhroov Bharatia, Top 300 Finalist

Plano West Senior High School

• Ryan Xu, Top 300 Finalist

Plano East Senior High School

• Ananya Nagendra, Top 300 Finalist and Top 40 Finalist

Pictured from left to right: Board Vice President Nancy Humphrey, Science Coordinator Dr. Ashley Carter, Dhroov Bharatia, Ananya Nagendra, Ryan Xu and science teachers