Student Achievements: Seven to Celebrate
1. Marching to Victories
The Highlander Band received straight 1s at the UIL 5A Marching Contest; won first place in 5A competition at the Duncanville Marching Invitational as well as awards for best color guard and best percussion; and took second place overall, as well as top honors for best marching and best percussion at the 2018 Midlothian Marching Showcase where the competition included bands from 6A schools. Also, the drumline placed first overall and earned caption awards for best snares, best tenors, and best front ensemble during the 27th annual Plano Drumline Competition, where junior Nicholas Chang took second place for his original snare solo and junior Zack Shawver took second place for his original multi-tenor solo.
2. Raider Excellence
The 2017-18 Highland Park Middle School Honor Band won a 2018 Mark of Excellence award from The Foundation for Music Education. For the national competition, bands from all over the country submit their best recording from the spring. This year, 279 musical ensembles from 38 states entered.
3. HPMS Orchestra Honors
Thirty-three Highland Park Middle School Orchestra students earned spots in either the Region 20 Philharmonic or Concert Orchestras and two others were named alternates. FIFTH PERIOD, FRONT ROW, FROM LEFT: Olivia Xiao, Alex Stucka, and Emerson Piering. BACK ROW: Cecilia Coale, Mia O’Neil, Luca Swaney, Praneel Cherukuri, and Kate Brosnan. NOT
PICTURED: Laura Wiese and Isabella Campos. SIXTH PERIOD, FRONT ROW, FROM LEFT: Caitlin Goh, Kevin Ding, Sofia Patel, Mediha Siddiqui, and Justine Choi. MIDDLE ROW: Silas Choi, Madeline Chun, Alexandra Baroody, William Covin, Elizabeth Chen, Timothy Zhang, Vivian Jin, and Linda Chen. BACK ROW: Thomas Zhang, Katherina Chen, Zeynep Akdora, William Smith, Madison Kelly, Casey Hale, Faith Zhao, Weitao Shi, and Dalton Burford. NOT PICTURED: Katie Wells. Top honors went to Madeline Chun, selected as principal viola, and Kevin Ding, selected as second chair violin.
4. Recorder Study
The music class Recorder Karate was designed to take 12 weeks, but Armstrong Elementary School fourth-grader Sydney Davis earned her black belt in five, making her the first to earn one this year. Belts are gained by being able to play songs of increasing difficulty.
5. Blue Bunny
Bradfield Elementary School first-grader Jordan Neale and her rabbit, Oreo, won first place in their division of the State Fair of Texas livestock contest. They competed in the Junior Buck class, Dutch breed competition for the Dallas County 4-H program.
6. Girls with Goals Picnic
The Highland Park Lady Scots soccer teams drew a large and enthusiastic crowd for the fourth annual Girls with Goals community picnic. FROM LEFT: captain Presley Echols, captain Megan O’Neal, JV Gold top seller Paige Selby, Varsity top seller Bella Mendoza, JV Navy top seller Parker Hart, captain Kathryn Franks, and captain Halley Ray.
7. Robotics Names Captains
The HPHS 2018-19 Robotics Club, led by Robotics and Video Game Design teacher Timothy Thomas, has named its club captains. FROM LEFT: Katrina Liang, Grayson McTaggart, Matthew Healy, Zimri Hunt, and Sam Graham. NOT PICTURED: Michael Emerson and Andrew Graham.
