Students honored at board meeting
If you鈥檝e wondered why the last two 91制片厂 Board of Trustees meetings have lasted so long, blame it on Arlington students.
If the students weren鈥檛 so smart, the meetings wouldn鈥檛 be as long.
That鈥檚 the best kind of problem to have as the district honored 141 high school juniors and seniors from all eight high schools for achieving either Semifinalist or recognition.
If the 141 sounds like a big number, it is. Record-setting in fact. Last year the district set a then-record when it honored 61 students. This year鈥檚 total more than doubled that.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 be prouder of the students and the hard work they put in to achieve these honors,鈥 said 91制片厂 superintendent Dr. Marcelo Cavazos. 鈥淭hese are not easy feats to achieve, but they鈥檝e done it. It鈥檚 a tribute to them, our teachers, their counselors and family members who helped them get here.鈥
The district has seven National Merit Semifinalists this school year and another 134 students who were honored for receiving African American, Indigenous or Hispanic Recognition from the College Board.
Of the 141, four received more than one honor.
Each student was invited to a board meeting along with their family members and had a chance to thank whoever they wanted for helping them achieve the honor, with several singling out their principals and counselors.
鈥淚鈥檓 grateful for this opportunity to excel,鈥 said Everardo Reyes, a senior from Arlington College and Career High School who received National Hispanic Recognition.
The students have big plans, with biology, engineering and nursing the top college choices of the group. They also started in the 91制片厂 at a young age, with nearly two-thirds of the recipients beginning their 91制片厂 careers in pre-K or kindergarten.
Their interests outside the classroom are diverse, too. Arlington College and Career senior Peter Ruiz (Hispanic Recognition) has a passion for railroading, which he hopes to turn into his career. Arlington Collegiate High School鈥檚 Kamille Brooks knows American Sign Language, Indigenous Recognition honoree Ayvelen Moore from Arlington High School hopes to expand the number of Native Americans in STEM while Martin鈥檚 Laurent Ogwoka (African American Recognition) loves Star Wars.
Each of the students is now a member of the 2022-23 91制片厂 Wall of Fame. They will be honored at an event in June.