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RISD Achievers Lead the Way
The recognition section is an important part of each board meeting when we honor students, staff members and schools for outstanding achievement. Items for this section are submitted by individual schools and/or curriculum directors, and we hope that no errors or omissions have occurred in the transmission of information.

Special copies of recognitions are available at each board meeting, on that date.

May 4, 2009

Community
The Board recognizes the outstanding support of the following Hamilton Park Pacesetter Magnet community partners: the Eiland Collins Foundation, represented by Dwight Harry; the Faithway Fellowship Baptist Church of Hamilton Park, represented by Pastor Derrick L. Bowman Sr.; and the Texas Instruments Mentor Program, represented by Mr. Ezra C. Penermon.

Staff
Richardson HS Physics teacher and former RISD STARS winner Dr. George Hademenos was recently named as a state finalist in the HEB Excellence in Education Awards Program.  “Dr. H” was named in the Rising Star Category, which honors exceptionally promising teachers with less than 10 years of experience. As a finalist, he was awarded a check for $1,000 during a surprise visit to his classroom and RHS will receive another $1,000.

Students
Forestridge Elementary students won $100 each for their first place entries in the University of North Texas Immigration Conference's Storytelling and Art Competition. Alexandra Blake won in Creativity. Grace Yoon won for Visual Presentation. Rodger Madwa and Teresa Jones won in Story Telling. Jasmin Quinones was the Overall winner for the Elementary Division.

The Apollo Junior High Robotics team was recognized as the top overall team at the Allen/Lucas VEX Robotics Competition at Lovejoy H.S. Competing against more experienced students from high school teams around the region, Apollo was equal to the task, winning the highest award presented in the VEX Robotics Competition.

Team members include: Josh Anderson, Nicholas Braden, Joshua Caldwell, Anthony Castillo, Tinsaye Gebeta, Grace Hoffman, Andrew Ho, Jonathan Levya, and Moin Muhammad.
They are coached by Apollo JH teacher Jack Nelson.
Richardson High School student, Abi Chen placed second in the Rotary 4Way-Test district competition and was awarded $500.  As the sole RISD candidate to place in the finals, Ms. Chen was selected out of 66 Rotary Clubs in the area.

Richardson High School students, Jenny Triew and Sarah Rigall recently excelled in the Japanese State Competition in Houston. In the Free Speech division, Ms. Triew won first place and a claim of state champion.  In the Poetry Recitation division, Ms. Rigall won third place.

The JJ Pearce Lady Mustangs Soccer Team recently won the UIL Girls 4A State Championship title after defeating traditional power Friendswood, 1-0 in Georgetown.

The state champions include: Haley Newsom, Rosa Medina, Lauren Burks, Kaitlyn Fletcher, Maddie Harper, Gayle Ziegler, Brooke Johnston,   Kathryn Watson, Hayley Kerr, Molly Hummel, Taylor Mathews, Bianca Hirschowitz, Lauren Fleschler, Katlin Robinson,  Sheina Tolmas, Hannah Tessaro, Karli Porter, Rikki Hirschowitz, Veronica Pippard, Nina Anderson, Kiele Miller, Meagan Stewart, Celia Beron, and Sarah Rivers.

They are coached by Oscar Borgarello and Robyn DeArmond.

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