2018.05.17 - Board Meeting

Student leaders from the district's six high schools sit at the dias with the Leander ISD Board of Trustees at the May 17 meeting.

Cadet 2nd Lt. Cheyenne Walker, Leander High School’s Air Force JROTC, led the pledge of allegiance at the May 17 Board meeting.

Henry Middle School band, recognized as the Middle School Exemplaray Band Program of the Year by the Texas Bandmasters Association for being a consistent exemplary perfroming band program in Texas for an extended period of time. Representatives of the band included Haley Alexander, Rachel Alexander, Sebastian Arguello, Talon Blottin, Glenn Choe, Santiago Cruz, Zoe Fisher, Koa Fujimoto, Minji Kim, Sarah Liu, David Whang and London Worsham. The HMS band is led by Director Robert Herring.

Canyon Ridge Middle School Band, recognized for being awarded a Sudler Silver Cup by the John Philip Souza Foundation. The Cup is the most prestigious international award for middle school band programs and recognizes a band that has demonstrated significant high standards of excellence in concert activities over a period of seven years. Over the 32-year history of the honor, only 56 school bands have been chosen for the award, and three of those have come from Leander ISD: the Cedar Park Middle School band in 2008 and the Henry Middle School band in 2011, in addition to CRMS in 2017. Representatives of the band included Jacob Zatopek, Suhani DeWagan, Karis Hu, Yuni Lee, Hilary Xu, Eric Parmelee Cami Reyes, Taylor Yuan, Jilly Garris, Julia Gudis, Daniel Warren, Nathan Cong and Anwen King. The CRMS band is led by Director Amy Allison.

Vista Ridge High School band, recognized for being awarded the Sudler Shield by the John Philip Sousa Foundation. This is an international award given to bands of world-class excellence. Representives of the band included Kyle Ma, Sydney Worsham, Matthew Jenkins, Addison Schievelbein, Logan Myers, Cameron Palodino, Chloe Fritsche, Alice Palmiere, Abigail Jablon, Alli Bellows, Matthew Jagen, Paige Runkel, Aubrey Ruschhaupt, Andrew Chase and Carrington Patrick. The VRHS band is led by Director Bryan Christian.

Parkside Elementary School student Ishika Pande, recognized for winning at the state level for her Special Artist Division Dance Choreography entry in the PTA Reflections state competition.

Students from Cedar Park, Leander, Vandegrift, Vista Ridge high schools, recognized for their accomplishment at DECA’s International Career Development Conference. Students included Gregory Phea, Shiva Kumar, Rithvik Saravanan and Cheryl Cruz from CPHS; Kyle Decker and Michelle Parker from LHS; Ishika Puri, Codi Farmer, Natasha Richtermeyer Genivive Betancourt, Rena Liang, Jessica Luo, Celina Pan, Karla Trujillo and Cecilia Reis from VHS; and Spenser Young, Thao Nguyen, Kaira Tran, Sharika Menon, Siona Kowlessar, Clarence Lilley, Eliza Hammond, Chris Dihn, Katie Rivers, Rania Mouhieddine, Kyle Feliciano, Sue Han and Case Connor from VRHS.

Vista Ridge High School students, recognized for placing in the Top 5 at the state TAFE competition. Students included Sylvia Brooks, Shainaaz Dalal, Toree Tedder and Elissa Peterson.

Students from Glenn, Rouse and Vandegrift high schools, recognized for exceeding at the state level of FCCLA. Students recognized included Brianna Ramsey of GHS; Katy Goertz and Rayla Lott of RHS; and Harshita Avirneni, Camille Digiamo, Tate Watson and Brandi Killingsworth of VHS. These students will go on to compete at the national competition in June in Atlanta.

Vandegrift High School’s Samantha Sorsby-Jones, recognized for finishing in the Top 10 percent on the healthcare issues exam as part of the state HOSA competition. That performance earns her a spot at the national competition in June.

Cedar Park High School’s Joshua Kolenbrander and Vista Ridge High School’s Matthew Jagen, recognized for earning perfect scores on the ACT exam.

Leander High School Color Guard, recognized for winning the Texas Color Guard Circuit State Championship and the Winter Guard International World Championship. LHS Color Guard representatives include Ariadna Alvarado, Aiden Cornelius, Ashley Curr, Elizabeth Earthman, Danielle Emmond, Natalie Snyder, Beatrice Summers, Olivia Vestal, Bryan Estrada, Jaida Simental. The LHS Color Guard is led by Director Will Callaway.

Vista Ridge student Kyle Ma, recognized for earning a perfect score on the AP Studio Art: 2-D Design Portfolio Exam. Kyle is one of only nine students in the world that earned every point possible, receiving the maximum score on each portion of the exam.

Student leaders from the district's six high schools joined the Leander ISD Board of Trustees at the May 17 meeting. These leaders included Raul Lopez, Glenn High School student body president; Dominique Mobley, Vandegrift High School senior class president; Emma Aldred, Leander High School student council president; Yazan Al-Sukhni, Vista Ridge High School student body president; Brooke Templeton, Rouse High School student body president; and Addison Leavitt, Cedar Park High School student body president.