Meet the top students from HISD’s Class of 2015

Each spring, the Houston Independent School District honors the top two scholars at each of its high schools with a formal celebration of their outstanding academic achievements. In 2015, the district recognized the valedictorians and salutatorians of its 47 high schools during a special ceremony held on April 7.

Visit the HISD website to see photos and read the biographies of each valedictorian and salutatorian.

Congratulations also go out this week to:

• Bellaire High School student Alisa Hamilton, who was surprised on May 20 with a $10,000 scholarship from Superintendent of Schools Terry Grier. The scholarship was part of the Council of the Great City Schools’ Green-Garner Award, which Dr. Grier received in October upon being named that organization’s Urban Educator of the Year. Read Alisa’s story here.
• Members of the T.H. Rogers Quiz Bowl team, who won a state championship and earned second-place laurels at a national competition. Get their story here.
• Students from Milby High School, the Energy Institute, and Lee High School, who swept the recycling bin decorating contest sponsored by the City of Houston’s Solid Waste Management Department. Get all the details and see a photo gallery here.
• Students from Atherton, DeAnda, Wainwright, and West University Elementary schools, who were named the winners of the HISD Police Department’s inaugural Police Appreciation Week Art Contest. Read that story here.
• Wainwright Elementary School students Catalina Alejandro, Cyrus Carlos, Ivan Gonzalez, Ja’Nay Leonard, Litzy Nuñez, and Camron Richard, who won scholarships for a six-week ballet class through The Houston Ballet’s “Chance to Dance” program. Get that full story here.
• Prabin Panta, a seventh-grader at Grady Middle School, who was named the third “Reader Leader” by myON for logging the most time spent reading on that website during a particular month. Prabin read for 97 hours and 22 minutes in myON in April. Learn more about him here.
• Two people from Carnegie Vanguard High School: Oulu Li, a ninth-grader who was selected as the winner of a Congressional Art Competition, and chemistry teacher Christy Rajadurai, who won the 2015 Thomas Aczel Award for Excellence in High School Teaching from the American Chemical Society. Find their stories here and here.
• Milby High School seniors Yovanni Cervantes, Jason Covarrubias, Armontré Manning, Daerion Richards, and Reginald Thompson, who took the first step toward careers in the maritime industry by obtaining their Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) cards. TWIC cards grant access to U.S. ports, waterways, maritime facilities, and vessels. Their story is here.
• The 400 HISD fifth-graders at C. Martinez, Sherman, Stevens, and Wainwright elementary schools who received bicycles, helmets, and locks from the Thin Blue Line Foundation & Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club though its “Bikes for Excellence” program. The bikes are awarded to students who have excelled in academics, personal conduct, and attendance. Get that full story here.

If you know someone who should be featured in Accolades, please email us at info@houstonisd.org and tell us why.