At each monthly Board of Education (BOE) Meeting, we are proud to celebrate the accomplishments of select students and staff members. Following are those who will be recognized at the June 2019 BOE meeting:
4th District Congressional Art Competition
Stamford High School (SHS) Senior Ivy Zingone is the winner of this year’s 4th District Congressional Art Competition hosted by Congressman Jim Himes. Ivy’s winning artwork, “Counting Screens,” is a graphite and colored pencil drawing featuring a baby in a crib reaching for a mobile of screens. An independent panel of artists selected Ivy’s drawing from a record number of 80 entries from high school students across the district. Ivy, who is a student of SHS Art Teacher Paul Cusano, received two round-trip tickets to attend the competition’s ceremony in Washington, D.C., where her art will be on display in the corridor leading to the U.S. Capitol Building for the next year.
Fairfield County Bar Association’s Law Day Art and Essay Challenge
The Fairfield County Bar Association recognized 14 elementary and secondary SPS students for winning entries in its Law Day Art and Essay Contest in a ceremony at the Stamford Superior Court. Thirteen judges, representing the Superior Court of the Judiciary of Stamford and Norwalk, celebrated the winning students. Students addressed the topic, “Free Speech, Free Press, Free Society,” in either essay or art submissions. Winning students:
- Ariel Bailey, Scofield Magnet Middle, Honorable Mention
- Sophia Chen, Scofield Magnet Middle, 2nd Place Essay
- Ethan Effren, Scofield Magnet Middle, Honorable Mention
- Anthony Fabricatore, Scofield Magnet Middle, 3rd Place Essay
- Elizabeth Hernandez, Scofield Magnet Middle, 1st Place, 8th Grade Art
- Fernando Hernandez Mesinas, Scofield Magnet Middle, 3rd Place, 8th Grade Art
- Lucia Kempton, Scofield Magnet Middle, 1st Place Hybrid
- Divyaj Parekh, Westhill High School, 1st Place High School Essay
- Nathalie Saon, Davenport Ridge Elementary, 1st Place, Grade 3 Art
- Sandi Saon, Rippowam Middle School, 1st Place, 6th Grade Art
- Brynn Spingola, Westhill High School, 1st Place, High School Poetry
- Serena Sweeney, Scofield Magnet Middle, Honorable Mention
- Grace Tolla, Scofield Magnet Middle, 2nd Place, 8th Grade Art
- Christina Zinicola, Scofield Magnet Middle, 1st Place Essay
CASA Stamford Administrator of the Year
Connecticut Association of School Administrators (CASA) named SPS Director of Curriculum and Instruction Natalie Elder McClarty “Stamford Administrator of the Year.” CASA, a professional organization open to all Connecticut school administrators, recognized Natalie among seven Connecticut administrators. Members of the executive board of the Stamford Administrative Unit chose Natalie from among all of its administrators to represent Stamford for CASA’s award. The award was created to provide positive recognition to deserving administrators.
CMEA Regional and All-State Festivals
Thousands of students across the state auditioned before a panel of professional adjudicators to be considered for the Connecticut Music Educators Association (CMEA) Western Region High School Festival. Each student performed an advanced selection in his or her specialty area: Orchestra, Concert Band, Jazz Band or Chorus. Those students who scored above a designated threshold qualified to perform at the festival. Of the 10 who qualified for regionals from SPS, five qualified and subsequently competed at the All-State Festival.
Regional Qualifiers:
- Eva Mitskevitch, WHS Sophomore, Alto
- Audrey Molina, WHS Senior, Alto
- Lucas Pinto-Leite, WHS Junior, Tenor
- Cristina Principe, SHS Junior, Flute – Band
- Elizabeth Sachs, WHS Junior, Tenor
Regional and All-State Qualifiers:
- Katy Aillery, SHS Senior, Soprano
- Mary Chobanyan, WHS Junior, Soprano
- Alessandro Schiro, WHS Senior, Tenor
- Jayce Schwartz, SHS Senior, Tenor
- Rona-Lyssa Tulien, SHS Senior, Alto
Perfect ACT Score
Westhill High School (WHS) Sophomore Gaurov Bansal earned the highest possible composite score of 36 on the ACT standardized test. According to the ACT organization, only around two-tenths of one percent of students who take the ACT earn a top score. The ACT consists of tests in English, mathematics, reading and science, each scored on a scale of 1–36. A student's composite score is the average of the four test scores. Students who earn a 36 composite score have likely mastered all of the skills and knowledge they will need to succeed in first-year college courses in the core subject areas.
Connecticut COLT Award for Excellence in World Languages
The Connecticut Council of Language Teachers awarded Alyssa Craner, Siomara Rodriguez, Erika Ricalde, Daniel Stevens and Kevin Duffy, all students of World Language Teacher Anna Koltypin, the CT COLT Award for Excellence in World Language. To qualify, each awardee must be enrolled in a World Language class, demonstrate excellence by achieving an average of 90% or better for three consecutive marking periods in the same language, and demonstrate evidence of a positive attitude toward language and cultures by using language beyond the classroom and/or participating in clubs.
Athletic Achievements
Stamford Public Schools has many high-performing individual athletes, teams and coaches. In the spring of 2018-19, the following student-athletes were honored at the regional level for both academics and sports or at the state level for exceptional spring sports achievements.
Boys Tennis
- Tyler Pomerance (WHS): All-State
- Jordan Soifer (WHS): All-State
- Rohan Suryawanshi (WHS): All-State
- Adarsh Sushanth (SHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
- Shiloh Williamson (WHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
Girls Tennis
- Tamar Bellete (WHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete, All-State, All-FCIAC
- Sophia Negyesi (SHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
- Devon Yaghmaie (SHS): All-State, All-FCIAC (doubles)
- Taylor Yaghmaie (SHS): All-State, All-FCIAC (doubles)
Boys Lacrosse
- Jacob Hansen (WHS): FCIAC Exemplary Scholar-Athlete
- David Marciczkiewicz (SHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
- Zachary Rubin (WHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
Girls Lacrosse
- Katelyn Benner (WHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
- Julia Chapell (SHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
- Abigail Sottile (WHS): FCIAC Exemplary Scholar-Athlete
Baseball
- Shane Hackett (WHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
- Jonathan Hoch (SHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
- Nicholas Otis (SHS): FCIAC Exemplary Scholar-Athlete
- Montana Semmel (WHS): All-State, All FCIAC
- TJ Wainwright (WHS): All-FCIAC
- Robert Zmarzlak (WHS): All-State, All FCIAC
Softball
- Olivia Butler (WHS): All-FCIAC
- Madison Cortell (WHS): All-FCIAC
- Betsy Sachs (WHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
- Rebecca Schwartz (SHS): FCIAC Exemplary Scholar-Athlete
- Dana Serricchio (SHS): All-State, All-FCIAC
Golf
- Rishi Jaaswal (WHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
- Brian Somody (SHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
Boys Track
- Reynell Burke (WHS): All-FCIAC
- Andrew Fang (WHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
- Ashton Williams (SHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
Girls Track
- Juliette Lipson (SHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
- Tatianna Taheri (WHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
- Sophia Thagouras (WHS): All-FCIAC
Boys Volleyball
- Panos Ketonis (SHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete
- John Mathew (WHS): FCIAC Spring Scholar-Athlete