Student Achievements: Three to Celebrate
1. Giddy up, giddy up HP109
Salute those Texas tuxedoes and dress and boot pairings. The HP Centennial Dance keeps going and going and making a difference.
Created in 2013 by rising seniors, the student-led affair has raised more than $1.5 million to benefit Highland Park ISD teachers and staff over the years.
HP109 drew record attendance in early November and exceeded its goal with $300,000 raised.
Student chairs Shelby Sides, Colin Hale, Vivian Downie, Max Sloan, Charlya Williams, and Judge Ellis credited corporate and family sponsors, the host committee, and those who attended with making it a successful year.
2. Super smart Scots
Watch out for that Highland Park High School Academic Decathlon team. The Scots overwhelmed opponents at the Rockwall Invitational Meet, placing first out of 35 teams on Oct. 29.
In the Honors Division, sophomore Anna Qian won second place while senior Elizabeth Chen and junior Alex Stucka tied for third.
In the Scholastic Division, senior Jeneta Nwosu was first, senior Justine Choi second, junior Vaughan Mullikan fourth, and senior Catherine Lu fifth.
In the Varsity division, senior Sean Ashton took fifth place. Other members contributing to the success: Olivia Xiao, Max Nguyen, GB Stalnaker, Zayan Shah, Ceci Coale, Brandon Nguyen, Oliver Muenker, and Mia O’Neil.
The team also won its first home contest of the season, finishing first out of eight teams at the 11th annual Warren Hutcheson Invitational Meet on Nov. 11 and was ranked second in the state with plans to compete in December in Tucson, Arizona.
3. Recognize these scholars
The College Board selected 22 Highland Park High School students as 2023 National Merit Scholar Recognition Award recipients.
The program recognizes students with at least a 3.5 GPA, a score in the top 10% on the PSAT/ NMSQT, and who identify as African American, Hispanic, or Indigenous.
National African American Recognition Program Scholars: Obinnam Nwosu and Savannah Stewart.
National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholars: Francesca Carrillo, Cecilia Coale, Emilia Cura, Martin Gonzalez, Kaitlyn Inman, Nia Perez, Katherine Peticolas, Eli Raphael, Briana Rees, Maya Rosalez, Christopher Taubenfeld, Miller Vargas, and Andrew (Dashell) Whitaker.
National Indigenous Recognition Program Scholars: Margaret Hopper, Charlotte McCoy, Hannah McCoy, Ava Mitchell, Addison Renfrow, Donovan Riley, and Sophia Wright.
