Student Achievements: 7 Good Impressions

1. Well said

Highland Park High School team members, led by coaches Lisa Seaman (oral interpretation) and Toby Whisenhunt (speech and debate), won nine top-three places at the UIL District 13-5A Academics meet at North Forney High School:

Poetry interpretation – Lyla Meece, first; Carter Mooreland, second; Kieley Stallings, third.

• Prose interpretation – Zach Anderson, first; Gunter Ben Stalnaker, second.
• Lincoln-Douglas debate – Evan Wang, first; Peyton Bono, second.
• Persuasive speaking – Evan Wang, first; Elijah Townsend, third.

FROM LEFT: Stallings, Meece, Seaman, Anderson, and Stalnaker.

2. Praised by the Belles

Drill team members and directors elected these rising seniors as the 2022-2023 service officers who will plan the Highland Belles social and service events. 

FROM LEFT: Katie Shults, president; Reagan Hoctor, vice president; Marin Davenport, secretary; Riley Lane Peterie, treasurer; and Carley Hutchison, chaplain.

Front row, from left: Director’s Choice and Annual Belle Awards went to Shelby Sides, Greer Dunston, Chloe Walsh, Kate Hamilton, Neely Womble, Maron Shiller (best attitude junior), Addison Renfrow (best attitude sophomore), and Sydney Thomas. BACK: Lola Jahant, Devoney Duclow, Emily Garberding, Anna Cooke (most improved), Alexandra Thomas, Ava Tiffany (best Belle), Ellie Williamson, and Jillian Miller. NOT PICTURED: Riley Fainter, Caroline Jernigan (best attitude senior), Kaycee Nieuwendyk, and Shelby Pettit.

3. Super singers

Two Highland Park High School choir program ensembles won Sweepstakes awards by earning top marks – First Division ratings – from all six judges at the UIL Region 20 Concert and Sight-Reading Contest this spring at Richardson High School.

4. Six-time champs

The HPHS Academic Decathlon team won its sixth consecutive Medium School Division State Championship this semester in San Antonio. FRONT ROW, FROM LEFT: Catherine Lu, Elizabeth Chen, Yincheng Qian, Jasper Chen, Justine Choi. BACK ROW: Scott Fortier (coach), Duke Stockton, Jack Jiang, Karina Zaydler, Ivy Mazzucchi, David Alvarado (coach).

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5. Hopeful examples

In April, Highland Park High School students Kennedy Foy and Lawler Carpenter received CitySquare’s Hope Award for helping the poverty-fighting agency in a way that made it “cool” for their peers to get involved.

Foy and Carpenter created and led the Highland Park High School CitySquare Club, which tackled such projects as cleaning out storage units and making Easter, Valentine’s, and Christmas goodies for CitySquare neighbors in need. FROM LEFT: Foy, Angela Frear (CitySquare manager of volunteer services), and Carpenter.

6. Principal lessons

Bradfield Elementary School fourth-grader Bendy Filgo served her Bronco classmates on April 26 as “principal for a day.” 

Her responsibilities included meeting with HPISD Superintendent Tom Trigg and Principal Regina Dumar to learn more about school administration.

7. Making an impression

Another Bradfield Elementary School pupil knows how to impress Highland Park Mayor Margo Goodwin.

First-grader Sarah Grace Walder served as “mayor for a day” on April 5 and dazzled Craig Penfold, Lydia Novakov, Goodwin, Marc Myers, and David Dowler with her ability to read aloud the agenda with all its gobbledygook and names like Kimley-Horn Associates.

The daughter of Tracy and Ben Walder loves tennis, dance, animals of all types, and wants to be a veterinarian. 

Goodwin said, “We need all the veterinarians we can get, so I wish you well with that.”