High academic achievement continues to increase districtwide as more than 60 Pasadena ISD students were recognized by the College Board and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) with various academic awards during the 2005-2006 school year.

“The success these students experienced this year in these advanced programs shows the level of achievement our students can attain when parents and teachers hold high expectations for academic success,” said Pasadena ISD’s acting superintendent Kirk Lewis. “The three-fold increase in numbers of recognized and commended students is remarkable. It is a tribute to their hard work and the excellent teaching taking place in our classrooms.”

The National Merit program allows high school students to compete academically for scholarships and national recognition by taking the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) during their junior year. The NMSC states that of the 1.3 million entrants, some 50,000 with the highest scores qualify for recognition in the program. High-scoring participants from every state may choose two colleges or universities to which they would like to be referred by NMSC.

Brandon Anderson and Divanny Lamas of Pasadena High, Laura Richards of Sam Rayburn High School and Jean Liew of Dobie were honored as National Merit Semifinalists. Semifinalists are the highest scoring entrants in each state and represent less than one percent of high school seniors nationwide. Semifinalists have the opportunity to compete for 8,200 scholarships worth more than $33 million.

Alexander Fowler, Edgar Gatica, Abel Gomez, Genevieve Walker, and Rebecca Walker of Sam Rayburn, Justin Lai and Christine Tran of Dobie, and Monica Nguyen and Raisa Nguyen of Pasadena Memorial High School received National Merit Commended Scholar awards. Commended students are recognized for their outstanding academic promise and more than two-thirds of the approximately 50,000 high scorers on the PSAT/NMSQT receive Letters of Commendation.

The Advanced Placement Program offers students the opportunity to take college-level courses while still in high school. The College Board offers several scholar awards to students who demonstrate college-level achievement through the AP courses and exams.

David Blystone, Amber Carr, and Jennifer Sawhill of Sam Rayburn, Jacob Underwood, Sara Newport, and Rustam Abedinzadeh of Dobie, and Karina Cerda of South Houston were recognized as AP Scholars with Honor. This award is achieved by students who receive an average grade of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken and grades of three or higher on four or more AP exams.

Phong Huynh and Maria Parham of Pasadena High, and Wesley Jacob, Holly Roelse, Skylar Walker, and Chelsie Weathers of Sam Rayburn, and Quyen Tran, Grace Kim, and Eric Green of Dobie received the AP Scholar with Distinction award. Students qualify for this award by receiving an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken and grades of three or higher on five or more AP exams.

In addition, the College Board also honored Joey Charles and Divanny Lamas of Pasadena High, Sylvia Garcia and Denise Gonzales of Sam Rayburn, Estevan Hernandez of South Houston, and Danul DeLeon, Aaron Milliken, and Erik Palacios of Pasadena Memorial as National Hispanic Scholars. Edgar Gatica of Sam Rayburn and Jose Ramos of Pasadena Memorial were recognized as National Hispanic Honorable Mention.

Pasadena ISD also boasted 28 AP Scholars from Sam Rayburn, Pasadena and South Houston high schools. The following students were granted this award for receiving grades of three or higher on three or more AP exams:

Pasadena High School
Brandon Anderson, Danny Charles, Cecia Escobar, Stephanie Gobea, Saul Gomez, Angel Guerra, Divanny Lamas, Omar Martinez, Marilyn Meza, Phillip Wicker

Sam Rayburn High School
Gregory Bohuslav, Natividad Corona, Alexander Fowler, Lee Harrison, William Maher, Samantha Perkins, Ryan Smith, Justin Strait, Genevieve Walker, Rebecca Walker

Dobie High School
Chantal Pham, Emeka Nnabuife, Chau Luu, Megan Eitelbach, Henry Dao

South Houston High School
Nora Hall, Phi Huynh, Rosa Reyes