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Student Achievements
Hundreds of Plano ISD students captured awards and honors during the 2012-13 school year. Many of our top achieving students’
accomplishments are featured in the next few pages of this report.
2013 United States Presidential Scholar
Kimberley was also a semifinalist in
the national Intel Science Talent
Search for research she did on the
genetics of brain structure. Along
with science competitions, she has
been recognized for her artwork,
qualifying multiple times for the
state’s Visual Arts Scholastic Event
competition. She was also among her
school’s National Merit Finalists.
• Sugirtha Paneerselvam, Plano East Senior High School,
2nd place in environmental management,
asteroid named in her honor
•Jessica Hong and Michael Trinh, Clark
High School and Plano East Senior High
School, respectively, 4th place award
from American Chemical Society
•Nirali Thakor and Niranjan
Balachandar, Shepton High School 2nd Place in mathematics, Arizona
State University Provost scholarship
with a research grant, NASA 3rd
place award, Sigma Xi Award,
asteroid named in their honor
BE BRIGHT
|
BE BOLD
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BELONG
Plano West Senior High School Salutatorian Kimberley Yu
was among four students in Texas named a 2013 United
States Presidential Scholar. Kimberley’s selection was based
on her academic success, artistic excellence and
evidence of community service, leadership and
demonstrated commitment to high ideals.
• Alicia D’Souza, Clark High School - 4th place in
biochemistry; Arizona State University Provost
scholarship with a research grant
2013 Valedictorians & Salutatorians
Kimberley Yu
Congratulations to Plano ISD’s 2013
valedictorians and salutatorians: Stanley Joseph,
valedictorian, and Alex Dao, salutatorian - Plano East
Senior High School; Aileen Huang, valedictorian, and Amy
Xia, salutatorian - Plano Senior High School; and Carlos
Molina, valedictorian, and Kimberley Yu, salutatorian - Plano
West Senior High School.
Students Garner Awards at International Science &
Engineering Fair
Nine Plano ISD students competed in the Intel International
Science and Engineering Fair, the premier global science
competition for students in grades 9–12. Plano students who
attended the event brought home more than $200,000 in
cash, scholarships and travel opportunities. Congratulations
to the following award winning students.
• Nazia Ahmed, Williams High School - 4th place in
behavioral and social science
•
Elisabeth Ashmore, Plano East Senior High School - 2nd
place in computer science, asteroid named in her honor,
award from the CERN European organization, all
expenses-paid trip to Switzerland to visit CERN
Students Excel in Science Research at
All Levels
Annually, Plano ISD students excel in science
competitions at the regional, state and international levels.
Following are the results of further major competitions.
Nine Plano ISD senior high school students achieved
semifinalist standing in the 2013 Siemens Competition in
Math, Science & Technology, the nation’s premier research
competition for high school students. These students
invested significant time and energy to advance research and
exploration in critical fields to earn semifinalist distinction.
• Alicia D’Souza, Plano East Senior High School
• Krithika Iyer, Plano East Senior High School
• Michael Trinh, Plano East Senior High School
• Rachana Vemireddy, Plano East Senior High School
• Jessica Hong, Plano Senior High School
• Monisha Veerapaneni, Plano Senior High School
• Katherine Xiu, Plano Senior High School
• Caroline Gao, Plano West Senior High School
• Lisa Michaels, Plano West Senior High School
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Plano ISD Students Sweep Texas Junior Academy of
Science Competition Awards
Academic & Extracurricular Awards
WorldQuest ~ A team of students from Plano West Senior
High School won the 11th Annual Academic WorldQuest™
contest hosted by the National World Affairs Council on
April 27 in Washington, D.C. Academic WorldQuest™ is a
team competition testing high school students’ knowledge of
international affairs, current events and foreign policy issues.
Plano ISD students captured all six grand prize awards at the 2013 Texas
Junior Academy of Science (TJAS) competition. These six grand prize
winners all qualified for a trip to the American Junior Academy of Science
competition. Pictured among attendees are first place winners Sugirtha
Panneerselvam, Phillip Yu, Karthik Prabhakaran, Anoop Vemulapalli,
Michael Thrin, Claire Gilmore, Sachit Menon and Krithika Iyer.
Forty-three Plano ISD students were recognized for their
scientific prowess at the 2013 ExxonMobil Texas Science and
Engineering Fair. Winning best in show for the junior division
was Nicky Wojtania, Rice Middle School. Winning best in
show for the senior division were teammates Jessica Hong,
Clark High School, and Michael Trinh, Plano East Senior High
School.
Plano ISD elementary and secondary students swept nearly
all grand prize awards at their respective regional science
fairs. Plano ISD students captured all of the grand prize and
runner-up grand prize awards in the senior division at the
2013 Beal Bank Dallas Science & Engineering Fair held in
Dallas. Three of the four grand prize awards captured at the
elementary regional science
Nicky Wojtania, Rice Middle School
fair were won by Plano ISD
students.
Encana Oil & Gas Co. and Plano
ISD hosted the 2013 Secondary
District Science Fair at Plano
Centre with hundreds of
seventh through twelfth grade
Plano ISD students submitting
entries. Nazia Ahmed, Williams
High School, won the high
school division grand prize
trophy. Rodney Belcher and
Nicholas Goodman, Wilson
Middle School, won the middle school grand prize trophy.
Seven Plano ISD students were among 300 students
nationally to earn semifinalist standing in the Broadcom
MASTERS™ program sponsored by the Society for Science &
the Public in which sixth, seventh and eighth grade students
demonstrate their mastery of Math, Applied Science,
Technology and Engineering as Rising Stars through science
fair competition.
WorldQuest winning teammates Jeffrey Chang, Jonathan Huang,
Samuel Cheng and Carlos Molina with teacher/sponsor John Scott
Spelling Bee ~ Chetan Reddy, Rice Middle School,
captured his fourth annual championship in the Dallas
Morning News Regional Spelling Bee. Chetan and two guests
received an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C.,
where he competed in the 2013 Scripps National Spelling
Bee. Chetan was honored for his 7th place finish in the
Scripps National Spelling Bee by the Plano City Council.
Chetan Reddy with Plano
Mayor Harry LaRosiliere who
presented Chetan with a
certificate of achievement
Mock Trial ~ Mock
trial teams from
Carpenter Middle
School won first place
at the Collin County
Bar Association’s Mock
Trial Competition.
Teammates from
Robinson Middle School
won second place.
Teams from several
Plano ISD middle
schools competed.
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Career & Technical Education ~ Seventy four Plano
ISD Career and Technical Education students advanced to
national/international level competitions in their various
student organizations. Career competitions in which
students won awards include agriculture science, automotive
technology, business leadership, computer science, culinary
arts and distributive education.
Speech/Debate ~ Plano ISD speech and debate students
ranked among the top 35 Public Forum Debaters in the
nation in 2013. Two teams from Plano West Senior High
School: seniors Vishal Vusirikala and Samuel Wang and juniors
Haneya Khan and Farah Zaman, and Plano Senior High
School’s Shah Sridhar have achieved top slots in the national
competition, which is sponsored by the Institute for Speech
and Debate.
a $4,000 scholarship. Plano West also won the best scenic
design award.
Murphy Middle School theatre students captured first
place in the 2013 Plano ISD Middle School One-Act Play
Competition. Otto Middle School and Renner Middle
School students captured second and third place overall,
respectively. Also capturing awards were students from
Armstrong, Bowman and Wilson middle schools.
Plano ISD students captured numerous fine arts awards in
2012-13, including the following:
Seventy-three students earned positions in coveted 2013
Texas All-State Music groups, including band, choir and
orchestra.
The Texas Music Educators Association invited the treble
choirs from Rice and Robinson Middle Schools to perform
in front of the largest gathering of music educators in the
country at its 2013 state convention.
BE BRIGHT
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BE BOLD
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BELONG
Fine Arts Awards
The Plano Senior High School A Cappella Mixed Choir
was selected to perform during the 2013 American Choral
Directors Association national conference. The awardwinning choir, directed by Derrick Brookins, was also
selected to perform in the choral celebration “Among
Friends: North Texans Helping North Texans,” a benefit
concert for the North Texas Food Bank.
Plano Senior High School’s cast and crew captured the best
musical award and the award for best crew and technical
execution in The Dallas Summer Musicals 2nd annual High
School Musical Theatre Awards. From Plano West Senior
High School’s cast of “Sweeney Todd,” Jacob Abaraoha won
Plano Senior High School Award-Winning A Cappella Choir
Murphy Middle School “Midsummer Night’s Dream” award winners
Two Plano ISD students were awarded for their artwork at
Congressman Sam Johnson’s Congressional Art Competition
during a ceremony held on May 2 at the McKinney
Performing Arts Center. Abigail Lam, Plano Senior High
School, won 2nd place for her artwork “Texas Summer,”
and Plano West Senior High School junior Danish Tejani
received the People’s Choice Award for his photo artwork of
a jellyfish.
Plano ISD high school and senior high school students’
artworks represented 66 percent of the 95 works that judges
advanced from the Region 10 Visual Arts Scholastic Event
(VASE) to the State VASE contest.
Five Plano ISD students’ artworks were displayed among 100
works selected for the 2013 Texas Youth Art Month Capitol
Exhibit. The students were recognized during an awards
reception at the state capitol.
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Several Plano ISD senior high school students enrolled in
Plano ISD Fine Arts Program Advanced Placement (AP)
courses, experienced tremendous success, including a sweep
of the first place awards categories, in the 2013 Young
Masters Exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art. Awards
were presented to students at a reception held at the
museum.
The Plano ISD 2012
Holiday Greeting
Card Art
Contest drew
approximately
1,000
entries from
students
grades
K-12.
Finalists
included
Anna
Johansson,
Dooley
Elementary
School; Lena
Khanolkar, Hendrick
Middle School; and Juan Arango,
Clark High School. The finalist and winner whose artwork
appeared on the cover of Plano ISD’s and sponsor Webb &
Webb’s holiday card was Rachel Sandene, Plano West Senior
High School.
Trey Stricklin, Plano East Senior High
School music theory student, accepted
his first place award at the DMA Young
Masters awards ceremony.
Robinson MS A Cappella Treble Choir, Robinson MS Mixed
Choir, Plano East SHS Chamber Orchestra and Clark HS
Wind Ensemble were named National Winners in the Mark
of Excellence Awards. Commended Winners included the
Jasper HS Chorale and Plano East SHS Wind Ensmble.
Based on the number of AP exams taken in 2013, Plano
Ranked #1 in the state in each of the AP Fine Arts Programs
and #1 in the state in 4 out of 5 AP Fine Arts programs.
Athletic Achievements
Baseball Plano West & Plano district co-champions; Plano
advanced to regional quarterfinals; Plano West advanced to
regional semifinals
Basketball (Girls) Plano & Plano West tied for 1st in district;
Plano East won 3rd, advanced to area round; Plano advanced to
regional quarterfinals; Plano West advanced to regional semifinals;
(Boys) Plano East district champion, advanced to regional
semifinals; Plano West 3rd place
Cross Country Plano West Boys & Girls, Plano East Boys &
Girls, and Plano Girls advanced athletes to regionals; Plano West
Boys advanced to state meet
Football Plano West placed third in district, advanced to state
quarterfinals; Plano 4th in district, advanced to bi-district round
Golf (Girls) Plano West 2nd in district, team advanced to
regionals; (Boys) Plano West advanced 2 medalists to regionals and
one medalist to state
Soccer (Girls) Plano West celebrated 6th state championship;
(Boys) Plano East 4th in district and advanced to bi-district round
Softball Plano West 2nd, Plano 3rd and Plano East 4th in district;
Plano East advance to area round; Plano defeated Plano West
in regional quarterfinal series and advanced to regional semifinal
round
Swimming At state meet, Plano advanced 6 athletes, Plano East
advanced 7 athletes, Plano West advanced 5 athletes; Diving At
state meet, Plano ISD advanced 2 athletes
Team Tennis Plano West won district championship; Plano East
was 2nd; both teams advanced to regional tournament; Plano West
advanced to state semifinal round; Spring Tennis Plano West
advanced 5 boys and 4 girls to the regional tournament; Plano
advanced 1 boy to the regional tournament
Track (Girls) Plano East named district champion; advanced one
athlete to state meet; (Boys) Plano West named district champion
and area champion; All 3 senior highs advanced numerous athletes
to the regional meet.
Volleyball Plano and Plano West tied for 2nd place in district;
Plano West advanced to regional quarterfinal round, while Plano
advanced to semi-final round of the regional tournament.
Wrestling (Girls) Plano East’s Luciana Schement won 2nd place
in 119-weight class at state, held a 36-1 season record, was the 1st
state medalist for girls wrestling in Plano ISD and was Plano ISD’s
first girls regional champion; (Boys) Plano’s Michael Kubic won 3rd
place in 182-weight class; Plano East advanced 1 athlete, Plano
West advanced 2 athletes
Eighteen Plano ISD students captured awards in the 2013-14 City of
Plano Fire Prevention Poster Contest. All winners were invited to attend
an awards ceremony fall, 2013, at the City of Plano Municipal Center
in the Council Chambers. Student award winners are pictured with Fire
Chief Brian Crawford and City Council Member Andre’ Davidson.