Board Recognitions from March 2024
Girls Wrestling Team Wins State Championship, Boys Earn Silver
At their regular March meeting, the Board of Trustees honored the Allen High School girls’ wrestling team, who for the fourth year in a row, captured the UIL State Championship. The team scored 123 points in the state tournament, which is a school record. Senior Jasmine Robinson capped her wrestling career at AHS with four individual gold medals. She joins only eight wrestlers in UIL history to win four individual state titles and is the fifth wrestler from Allen to achieve this honor. She finished the season with a 43-0 record. Sophomore Grace Romans and freshman Kailin Sebert won individual gold medals and Senior Esther Peters earned a third-place finish.
The Allen Eagles boys team won second place. Freshman Cayden Campbell won an individual gold medal, and the following student-athletes earned silver: Senior Joseph Liescheski, junior Javin Jackson-Bey, and sophomore Aiden Cooley.
Todd Wyckoff Enters Wrestling Hall of Honor
The Board also recognized Todd Wyckoff, who was inducted into the 2024 Texas Wrestling Hall of Honor at the UIL State Championships. The UIL recognized Coach Wyckoff for outstanding contributions and dedication to the sport of amateur wrestling in the state of Texas as a wrestling coach and administrator. Coach Wyckoff was a longstanding coach with the Allen Eagles wrestling program.
Allen Eagles Swim Team Competes at State Meet
Student-athletes from the Allen High School swim program were recognized by the Board for qualifying to compete at the UIL Swimming and Diving State Meet in Austin. The Allen girls swim team earned seventh place overall at the meet, and Katelynn Zhou earned a silver medal in the 200-yard Individual Medley. Members of the girls team are:
· Katelynn Zhou
· Janelle Zhou
· Sophia Ware
· Olivia Chen
· Isabelle Thibodeau
· Lia Ross
Nathan Jacobbe also qualified for the state meet in the boys’ division.
Allen ISD Students Win at Science Fairs
Elementary and secondary students were recognized by the Board for recently competing in science fairs and winning awards in several categories. In the district’s Elementary Science Fair, 24 students from schools across the district received honors.
Meanwhile, 11 Allen ISD secondary students won places in the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair for students in public, charter, private, and home schools in Region 10. Allen had 37 students compete against more than 900 others in 22 categories at the regional contest. Winning projects are eligible to advance to state and international competitions. Below are the students from Allen ISD who received awards in both fairs:
Elementary
Boon Elementary
Alexis Marsh
Emerson Morgan
Cassidy Tran
Bolin Elementary
Claire Louis
Boyd Elementary
Kaitlynn Cortes-Molina
Chandler Elementary
Evan Farnum
Sean Farnum
Cheatham Elementary
Anish Barath
Lillian Sun
Evans Elementary
Amulya Garrepally
Vihaan Ghatol
Poorvee Srivastava
Lindsey Elementary
Arshia Nath
Neha Rakesh
Aadhya Vivek
Marion Elementary
Charlene Dione
Bhavroop Virk
Olson Elementary
Dylan Pastorelli
Preston Elementary
James Chen
Brett Glover
Allison Kim
Reed Elementary
Charlotte Pittenger
Vaughan Elementary
Reema Bhogireddi
Jessa Robinowich
Secondary
Curtis Middle School
Amogh Barath
Srisai Kona
Roshan Ranganathan
Ereckson Middle School
Olivia Kim
Nikhitha Swaminathan
Haojun Zhang
Lowery Freshman Center
Devaj Shourya Bhogireddi
Arohi Joshi-Gadre
Sai Produtor
Abhirama Sonny
Allen High School
Adrian Lin
Vedant Mohapatra
Purchasing Department honored with TASBO Finance Award
The Board honored the Allen ISD Purchasing Department for being awarded the 2024 Award of Merit for following best practices in purchasing operations from the Texas Association of School Board Officials. The Purchasing Department has won the award for four years in a row.
The Award of Merit was established in 2009 to recognize Texas school districts, open-enrollment charter schools, and education services centers that are committed to following professional standards in the acquisition of goods and services. Each year, volunteers with the TASBO Purchasing & Supply Management Research Committee evaluate the award criteria to ensure it represents the latest best practices.
Communications Staff Honored with State Awards
The Board also recognized several Allen ISD staff members for being awarded by the Texas School Public Relations Association for outstanding work and achievement in communications during the 2022-2023 school year. District Communications staff members won awards this year in photography, writing, videography, and publications. These awards include:
Best-in-Category Award (Best in Texas)
· Steven Offield and Jesse Oquist, Convocation (Video)
Gold Star Awards
· Jesse Oquist, Secondary Teacher of the Year (Video)
· Steven Offield, Pep Rallies in Allen ISD (Photos)
· Steven Offield, Pre-K Registration Flyer (Print Materials)
· Steven Offield, Ford Middle School logo (Print Materials)
· Steven Offield, Employee Awards Program (Programs)
· Communications Team, David Hicks, Steven Offield, Renee Cunningham, Jesse Oquist, and Keith A. Taylor, SOAR Magazine
Silver Star Awards
· Keith A. Taylor, “Sydney Green – Track Star” (Writing)
· Steven Offield, Coloring Book for New Families (Original Art)
Bronze Star Awards
· Keith A. Taylor, “All-State Musicians,” (Writing)
· Keith A. Taylor, 88th Legislature Webpage (Website Original Design)