Student Achievements

Editor’s note: Send your recommendations for Student Achievements with high-resolution photographs to [email protected].

1. Fundraising Freshmen

Cistercian’s freshman class held a donation drive in conjunction with their freshman mixer luau Aug. 26 and raised $3,627. With the wildfires in Maui occurring three weeks before, native Hawaiian freshman Hayden Lake and his family, deeply rooted in Maui, wanted to do something meaningful to help its residents. The freshman class identified the Maui Strong Fund with the Hawaii Community Foundation as a credible partner. A flier was created and shared with all the schools participating, including Ursuline and Hockaday, plus shared with others in the school community, family, and friends.

2. Shelton at the State Fair

Shelton junior Kate Williams entered two pieces in the 2023 Texas State Fair Creative Arts Competition and won second place for pottery and second place for ceramics. Her winning pieces will be on display at the State Fair of Texas in the Creative Arts Building.

3. National Merit Semifinalists

Twenty-four seniors from The Hockaday School were named National Merit Semifinalists in the 70th-annual National Merit Scholarship Program, a national academic competition for recognition and scholarship. The semifinalists: Sanika Agarwalla, Sophia Braskamp, Eleanor Browne, Jessica Cai, Elise Cho, Jessica Chung, Angelina Dong, Angela Fan, Defne Gurun, Layo Isaacs-Sodeye, Aadya Kuruvalli, Kaelynn Lee, Grace Little, Lily McKenna, Bridget Qiu, Isabelle Raymond, Anisha Sharma, Margaret Thompson, Ariana Wang, Lydia Wissel, Yoyo Yuan, Kimberly Zhang, Sophia Zhang, and Julia Zhao.

4. Top Cellist

Aaron Kuang of the Greenhill School class of 2026 has received multiple first-place finishes in recent cello contests, such as the Golden Classical Music Awards and the 19th Century Music Competition. Due to his Golden Classical honor, he was selected to perform in Carnegie Hall Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. He also earned fourth place and an honorable mention in the All Strings Wind division at the 2023 Texas Music Teacher Association solo competition.

5. Winston Art Excellence

Lana Mulawi, a junior at The Winston School, won the Johnice Parker Award for her excellence in two-dimensional art. Each year, Dr. Diane Miles from Southern Methodist University accepts applications from arts students in grades eight through 12 to participate in a statewide art competition.