The May 20 school board meeting boasted a full house for award presentations to numerous students and staff.
Students throughout the district received Young Artist Awards: Vidhur Bynagari, Anne Castro, Maggie Ernst, Gretchen Fehn, Whitney Fung, Elizabeth Galus, Sarah Goddard, Maddy McLaughlin, Lilia Mills, Luke Prall, Angela Qian, Alayna Salain,Kali Sutter, Nikki Vasil and Chloe Wareham.
Sixth-grader Kevin Liu achieved the Mathematical Association of America Award. Liu earned a perfect score on the AMC8. Carmel Middle School Principal Lila Jay praised Liu’s “incredible performance.”
Creekside Middle School’s Science Bowl team accomplished first place at the National Science Bowl: Asim Dhungana, Caleb He, Anthony Ji, Brendan Yap and Melissa Yap. Coach Karmen Hamacheck explained, “They approached this year with the goal to beat last year’s 12th place.”
Math Counts Awards were presented to Joey Heerens and Kevin Liu of Carmel Middle School and Caleb He and Anthony Ji of Creekside.
Prudential Financial’s Rich Bender presented Amber Kriech the Prudential Spirit of Community Award. Bender said Prudential hopes promoting students like Kriech as role models will inspire others into community service.
Before recognizing Kriech for her Nestle Very Best in Youth Award, Principal John Williams informed the audience of the many awards Kriech has earned for her service work while maintaining National Honor Society academic status. “The heart of leadership is service,” Williams said, “and Amber has made it her mission to be a leader.”
David Liang’s high scores on eight advanced placement math and science exams earned him the Siemens Award for Advanced Placement.
Carmel High School’s Chess Club coach Margaret Winans recognized the team for its State Championship: Yushi Homma, Andrew Kluttz, David Lee, Saiuth Malpeddi, Sameer Manchanda and Joseph Philleo. “This is the second year Carmel High School students have won this championship,” Winans said. “This winning team consisted of one freshman and five juniors, so we hope to be up here again next year.”
Service awards were presented to more than 40 staff ranging from 20 to 40 years of service. The transportation department’s Donald Endres received a standing ovation for his 50 years of service. “A funny thing happened on the way over here tonight,” Endres said, “50 years went by.” He took a moment before thanking the room. “I’m at a loss among my friends.”