16 Dec 2005
2005 Graduate Joshua Schonborn Named Advanced Placement State Scholar
DALLAS—Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa will salute nearly 400 of the district's highest academic achievers and their teachers in the National Merit and Advanced Placement programs at the Superintendent's Academic Scholars Reception, at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 3, at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, 2301 Flora St.
"These students truly set the standard in high academic achievement," said Hinojosa. "Some of these honorees are currently DISD students and others are attending top colleges and universities in the country. DISD is very proud of their accomplishments and their commitment to higher standards."
The district will honor 399 students this year, including 17 National Merit Semi-Finalists. The number of students honored has risen for the past two years, from 297 in 2003, to 380 in 2004.
The Advanced Placement Program Scholars Awards are intended to recognize high school students who have demonstrated college-level achievement through AP courses and examinations. Although there is no monetary award, students receive a certificate and the achievement is acknowledged on any grade report that is sent to colleges the following fall.
In recent years, several DISD students have earned the title of Advanced Placement State Scholar, an award granted to one male and one female each year in Texas. The award is given to a student with the highest number of AP courses completed and the highest scores in the state that year.
This year, Joshua Schonborn, a 2005 graduate of the School for the Talented and Gifted at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center, was named the 2005 AP State Scholar. Schonborn, who was a National Merit Semi-Finalist last year, completed 19 AP courses with an average test score of 4.05.
Schonborn is currently attending Oberlin College in Ohio in the Neuroscience Department. Oberlin's neuroscience program has been recognized as one of the best undergraduate programs of its kind in the country.
In addition to Schonborn, the district has had four previous AP Placement State Scholars: Frederick Wulff in 2004, now at Stanford University; the male and a female winners in 2002, Ross Losher, now at California Technical Institute and Lucy Angle, now at Vassar College; and Eric D'Avignon in 2001, now at the University of Texas at Dallas.
"This great collaboration between students, teachers and parents has resulted in outstanding academic success for all these talented students," said Michael Satarino, principal of the School for the Talented and Gifted at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center. "This opportunity to salute the students and teachers for an excellent job is greatly appreciated."
The evening's honorees also include 17 National Merit Semi-Finalists, the most in recent history: Emily Bordelon and Virginia Hardwick from the School of Science and Engineering at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center; Naomi Bardoff, Lauren Hollis, Mary McElroy, Rachel Porter and Claudia Whitten from the School for the Talented and Gifted at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center; Andre Azzolini, Ashley Meroney, Benjamin Meyer, Nicholas Saltarelli, David Schieffer and Allen Wang from W.T. White High School; Zachery Buchanan and Evie Crabb from Woodrow Wilson High School; Alexander Anthony from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts; and Alana Christie from Bryan Adams High School.