Student Achievements
1. Movies with a Mission
The second-annual Movies with a Mission — a fundraising campaign in which AMC NorthPark 15 donates 100% of ticket sales for certain screenings to Children’s Health — raised $18,725.
The fundraising effort involved a committee of nearly 100 teens representing 20 public and private schools in Dallas. Co-chairs Jesuit freshman Barrett Gibbins and Ursuline freshman Ella Kate Nayfa started the effort.
Movies with a Mission fundraising has totaled $28,725 since its start last year.
2. Science fair winner
More than 650 students participated in the 66th-annual Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair in February. The Senior Division Grand Prize winners and runners-up included nine winners (mostly individual and one team), such as Rohan Jagarlamudi from Alcuin.
The student winners were honored at a banquet at SMU this spring.
They will advance to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair May 13-19 in Dallas, which wraps up after this paper goes to press. Contestants will compete against students from across the country for nearly $6 million in awards.
3. Funds for Guatemala
Trinity Christian Academy students Brayden Rice, Logan MccIntyre, Sloan Nelson, Everett May, and Ryan Elms organized a pickleball tournament, spoke at churches, and drew support from friends and family to raise $18,750 for nutritious meals for children in Guatemala.
These funds will provide 29,000 meals. The students found inspiration after traveling to Guatemala on a mission trip with Orphan Outreach. Another TCA group of students, including some from Preston Hollow, will travel to Guatemala this summer to serve.
4. Water safety
Emmy Roberts, a Hockaday School sophomore, organized a free water safety class in May for children from underserved communities.
The event, which she called WE Swim (Water for Everyone), was Roberts’ Gold Award project for her Girl Scout tenure. She’s been part of Troop 5392 since she was 5 years old.
Roberts partnered with North Texas-based Emler Swim School, CPS, and the Wesley Rankin Community Center in Dallas to provide the water skills awareness program to 60 children. Each child took part in classroom and pool activities, and Emler provided attendees with an event T-shirt, a towel, and a water watcher tag. The hope is to roll this program out nationwide.
5. Coca-Cola Scholar
Zoya Haq, a senior at The Hockaday School, was recently named a Coca-Cola Scholar.
She was one of 150 high schoolers across the nation to receive the honor, including a $20,000 scholarship and joining a group of 6,750+ alumni leading change in their communities and around the world.
Haq is a storyteller and educational policy advocate who founded HiStory Retold, a global, student-run initiative working to diversify history classrooms. She also founded The Tahira Project, an initiative to improve global literacy through targeted fundraising in memory of her grandmother.
More than 91,000 individuals applied from across the country to become Coca-Cola Scholars, and individuals were selected based on being change agents in addition to leadership, service, and academics.
6. World-class debaters
Members of The Hockaday School’s debate team finished as runner-up in the 22nd-annual Brewer Foundation/New York University International Public Policy Forum on May 6.
The team members — Sanika Agarwalla, Diya Hegde, Sidney Murray, Aarnah Kurella, Ariana Wang, and Evita Nino — competed in New York City on an all-expenses-paid trip and earned a $3,500 prize.
Hockaday debater Sanika Agarwalla also won the inaugural John E. Sexton Award, recognizing the outstanding speaker during the finals debate.
