PFTSTA
Awards, Honors & Publications
2013-2014
PFTSTA:
For the 2012-2013 school year, Patrick F. Taylor Science & Technology Academy was
ranked second in Jefferson Parish and third in the state of Louisiana. The school
received a school performance score (SPS) of 136.2 on a 150 point scale.
Faculty:
John McCloskey (band) was selected as the PFTSTA Teacher of the Year for 2014 as
well as the high school Teacher of the Year for Jefferson Parish Public Schools.
Cheryl Bordelon (ELA), Kelly Maher (technology), Elizabeth Kahn (librarian), Janell
Simpson (science) and Lisa Valence (math) received a $10,000 grant from Funds for
Teachers to attend the Building Learning Communities Conference in Boston in the
summer of 2014.
Cheryl Bordelon (ELA) received a service learning grant from The Brown Foundation.
The award gives $6010.00 plus an additional $1000 in a principal's award to run
programs for 6th and 7th grade students in English Language Arts. Sixth graders will
work with AP Environmental Science students on water sampling and other related
anti-pollution activities. Seventh graders will conduct service projects with students at
Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School in the Lower Ninth Ward. Teachers who will
be working with this project include Lisa Valence, Janell Simpson, Meghan Ritter,
Librarian Elizabeth Kahn, Katie Higgins, and Maggie Grindstaff.
Janell Simpson (science)received a 2013 Patrick F. Taylor Grant for $1070 from the
Greater New Orleans Science and Engineering Fair (GNOSEF) to purchase math or
science material or field trips. During the 2014 GNOSEF, Simpson received the Most
Prolific Teacher Award, the Teacher/Mentor Award and the Patrick Taylor Foundation
Award for science fair materials.
Janell Simpson (science) is one of the 20 environmental educators who wrote
Measuring Environmental Education Outcomes. This free ebook was edited by Alex
Russ and underwritten by EECapacity, Cornell University Civic Ecology Lab, and
NAAEE. (Click the title of the book to read.)
Lisa Valence (math) received a Quality in Science and Mathematics (QSM) grant for
2013-14 in the amount $740 to purchase new math materials.
Students:
Thomas Sostarics was selected as the high school student of the year by the faculty.
Tiffany Quach was selected as the middle school student of the year by the faculty.
Paris Evans received the $100,000 college scholarship award from the Patrick Taylor
Foundation. Semi-finalists, Lauren Tran and Nick Dang, were awarded scholarships
of $32,000 each.
Duke University Talent Identification Program (TIP) for 7th grade
Students with qualifying scores (about 38 percent of all talent search participants)
are invited to attend a state Recognition Ceremony:
Ahmad Bradley
Jackson Grisbaum
Macy Laurent
Wilson McDade
Jasmine McGowan
Lauren Morrow
Joshua Nguyen
Benjamin Schluter
Jada Woodard
Students with the highest scores (about 3 percent) are honored at the Grand
Recognition Ceremony at Duke University:
Virginia Steinkamp
The following students qualified for the Academic Games Leagues of America
National Tournament held in Knoxville, TN: Carson Chauvin, Edward Johnson and
Abdullah Syed for the JPPSS senior team, Alexandra Miserendino and Dylan Vasquez
for the JPPSS junior team and James Westman for the JPPSS middle team. Zoey
Prado also qualified but is unable to attend due to prior commitment.
Sydney Monix and Kayla Tarr were accepted to the Perry Outreach Program
sponsored by The Perry Initiative that was founded to inspire women to be leaders in
Orthopaedic Surgery and Engineering.
LSU State Literary Rally Division IV
Quentin Andrus
US History
Morgan Brown
Biology I
Marco Flores
Physical Science
Edward Johnson
Advanced Math Pre-Calculus
Tiffany Quach
Algebra I
Kayla Tarr
English IV
Dylan Vasquez
Algebra II
1st place
2nd place
2nd place
1st place
2nd place
2nd place
1st place
Greater New Orleans Science and Engineering Fair (GNOSEF)
Jose Alexander
Animal Sciences
3rd place
Quentin Andrus
Physics
2nd place
Yale Science & Engineering Association Award
Imani Bell
1st place
Chemistry, Iota Sigma Pi Award and Lawana Stewart HumDinger Award
Madison Berard
Behavioral and Social Sciences
4th place
Morgan Brown
Stockholm Junior Water Prize
Paris Evans
Environmental Sciences
2nd place
US Marine Corps Award
GNOSEF Grand Award Winner (trip to the INTEL science fair in Los Angeles)
Marco Flores
Computer Science
3rd place
Jason Hall
Earth and Planetary Science
2nd place
Kiara Horton
Chemistry
3rd place
Edward Johnson
Physics and Astronomy
4th place
Ali Kirkland
Animal Science
4th place
Alexandra Miserendino
Biochemistry
2nd place
Vy Mai
US Public Health Services Award
Marissa Nguyen
Plant Science
4th place
Thomas Sostarics
Computer Science
2nd place
INTEL Excellence in Computer Science Award
Samuel Tejeda
Engineering: Electrical and Mechanical
2nd place
MS Benbow and Association Award
1st place
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
3rd place
John Tran
Earth and Planetary Science
3rd place
American Meteorological Society
1st place
New Orleans Geological Society
2nd place
Stockholm Junior Water Prize
Mason Varuso
Energy and Transportation
American Petroleum Institute
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Alex Walsh
New Orleans Geological Society
Greater New Orleans Literary Rally, Division IV
Quentin Andrus
US History
Michaela Brown
Biology I
Marco Flores
Physical Science
Edward Johnson
Advanced Math Pre-Calculus
Justin Lightsey
Civics
Abrania Marrero
Calculus
Alexandra Miserendino
Chemistry
Grayce Mores
English I
Tiffany Quach
Algebra I
Sydney Monix
Advanced Math Functions and Statistics
Julia Rosato
World History
Kayla Tarr
English IV
Dylan Vasquez
Algebra II
st
(all students who placed 1 or 2nd qualify for the state literary rally)
1st place
3rd place
2nd place
3rd place
1st place
2nd place
1st place
1st place
2nd place
1st place
1st place
1st place
2nd place
1st place
4th place
2nd place
1st place
Anjelika Adraneda, Kaitlyn Esneault, Bruce Quach, Tiffany Quach and James
Westman as a team finished 4th overall in the New Orleans Chapter MathCounts
competition. James Westman finished in the top-ten as an individual.
Destiny Burnett, Micquel Downs, Louie Messina, and Lee Montgomery earned 1st
Place in the Potpourri contest (miscellaneous math problems from all fields of
mathematics) for their division in the Catholic High School Mu Alpha Theta math
tournament.
Kiara Horton was selected as an Affiliate Award Winner for the National Center for
Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) Award for Aspirations in Computing. Ariel
Walker was selected as a state runner up.
Jasmyn Hall and Madison Rolig were awarded certificates for outstanding
achievement in the Talent Visual Art program by Jefferson Parish Schools. Artwork
from each student is on permanent display in the JPPSS offices at 501 Manhattan
Boulevard.
Quint Adkins was selected for the District 6 Junior High Jazz Honor Band.
Nuri Melancon and Micquel Downs received a scholarship from The POSSE
Foundation to Tulane University. Jose Alexander and Kaylynn Tran received a
scholarship from The POSSE Foundation to Bard College in New York.
Quentin Andrus, Hayley Hughes, Nuri Melancon and Celia Zaeringer representing the
Soviet Republic of Belarus won most outstanding nation at the annual Model United
Nations (MUN) conference in Baton Rouge.
Art work by Valerie Ruiz and Crystal Suggs (class of 2013) was selected for display in
the Louisiana’s Governor’s Mansion for the month of November, 2013. Visit this site
to view their work: http://bit.ly/1bTP1Nk.
The following students were selected as National Merit scholarship program finalists:
Carson Chauvin, Nick Dang and Abrania Marrero.
The following students were selected as finalists in the National Achievement
Scholarship Program: Tameka Aych and Paris Evans.