compiled by Lauren Salinero
Dr. Phillips Elementary
Dr. Phillips Elementary’s 2015-16 team wins the trophy for the K-2 grades chess tournament sponsored by Orange County Public Schools.
Orange County Public Schools officials sponsored a chess tournament at Dr. Phillips Elementary, and Dr. Phillips Rotary Club members purchased awards for the event. The DPES team, coached by Denise Hartman, won the K-2 grades division. Out of 83 kids who entered the K-2 grades competition, DPES 2015-16 ranking players included kindergartner Max Daley, 10th place; second-grader Matthew Gu, first place; kindergartner Brock Hudgens, second place; first-grader Ridge Hudgens, third place; and second-grader Pratham Masimukku, 15th place. First-grader Affan Bilal, second-grader Harshini Bulusu, kindergartner Liam Daley, kindergartner Angelina Sanguine, second-grader Dominick Sanguine, and kindergartner Collin Singh also participated. For the third-fifth grades tournament, 275 students entered. Representing DPES were third-grader Mahad Bilal and fourth-grader Takoda Paschel.
Lake Whitney Elementary
Karen Hewitt, school clerk at Lake Whitney Elementary, is named 2015-16 Outstanding Orange County Public Schools Coordinator of the Year.
Orange County Public Schools officials named Lake Whitney Elementary school clerk Karen Hewitt the district’s 2015-16 outstanding OCPS coordinator of the year. The school community, located in Winter Garden, is proud to have Karen on staff and congratulates her on this distinction.
Windermere Elementary
Windermere Elementary principal Diana Greer (far left) and fifth-grade teacher Zachary Frank (far right) congratulate Logan Zack (middle) and his parents on Logan’s receipt of a 2016 SOAR — Students of Achievement and Renown — award.
Logan Zack was Windermere Elementary’s 2016 SOAR — Students of Achievement and Renown — winner. SOAR recipients are recognized for their initiative, good citizenship, commitment and personal growth in the classroom.
Windermere Elementary science lab teacher Lynn Tidmus (back) accompanies 2015-16 fifth-graders (l. to r.) Lauren Lefils, Zack Pearson, Ethan Parekattil, Elizabeth Greenless, Laken Ziegler, Jessica Williams and Payton Reilly to the West Learning Community Science Fair. Not pictured: Hayley Clark, Kathryn Hey and Savanna Schenk.
Westbrooke Elementary
Heather Yates, a 2015-16 student at Westbrooke Elementary, receives a Principal’s Choice Award from Orange County Tax Collector Scott Randolph for her Kids Tag Art contest entry.
Scott Randolph, Orange County tax collector, presented awards to the 17 winners of his office’s Kids Tag Art contest. The program, which involved 2015-16 fifth-graders designing their own specialty license plates, was integrated into the art curriculum at 13 Orange County Public Schools this year. Nearly 600 entries were submitted for the contest. Heather Yates of Westbrooke Elementary was selected as a winner of a Principal’s Choice Award for her drawing. Proceeds from Kids Tag Art co-benefit the art programs in each participating school and the Orange County Education Foundation.
Dr. Phillips High
Brittany Corbin, a rising senior at Dr. Phillips High and art magnet student, prepares to spend four weeks in Baltimore at Maryland Institute College of Art’s pre-college studio residency program.
Dr. Phillips High rising senior and art magnet student Brittany Corbin was accepted to the Maryland Institute College of Art pre-college program. She will attend MICA’s four-week pre-college studio residency program in Baltimore this summer with a concentration in illustration. The intensive college-level experience is designed to help participants make the leap from thinking like a high school art student to thinking like an artist, making art that reflects a new level of skill and personal vision, communicating ideas about art in daily critiques, and building a professional portfolio of work.
Et Al
Windermere Preparatory School’s Senior Thespian Troop 6902 earned a performance spot at the 2016 Orlando International Fringe Festival, presenting The Lesson by the father of absurdist theatre Eugene Ionesco. The play starred recent graduate and valedictorian Alex Schwartz, rising senior Anasia Clayton and rising junior Hillary Simpson.
“This absurd comedy seems to speak to both disenfranchised youth and educators alike, poignantly underlining the lack of communication and rational consciousness,” said Cindy Kennaugh, WPS theater director.
©Zak Kerr
Principals, assistant principals and teachers representing Thornebrooke and Windermere elementaries, Gotha Middle, Windy Ridge School, and Olympia and West Orange highs receive proclamations from Windermere Mayor Gary Bruhn (back, third from right) for the town’s 2015-16 Teacher Appreciation Week.
Windermere officials took time out of one of their recent council meetings to honor and recognize 2015-16 Orange County Public Schools teachers and staff members. Mayor Gary Bruhn presented personal copies of his proclamation for Windermere’s Teacher Appreciation Week to principals, assistant principals and teachers from Thornebrooke and Windermere elementaries, Gotha Middle, Windy Ridge School, and Olympia and West Orange highs.
Tristan Anderson–Westlake displays findings from his potato circuit experiment during Cranium Academy’s 2015-16 science fair.
Officials of the Dr. Phillips Center Florida Hospital School of the Arts announced the 2015-16 recipients of the Applause Awards. The showcase recognizes outstanding achievements of participating high schools’ musical theater productions and students. The following Southwest-area schools collected several awards:
Celebration High’s Little Shop of Horrors: outstanding supporting performer — Ella Cruz, Jessica Fernandez and Thalia Plasencio; and outstanding musical director — James Rode.
Dr. Phillips High’s Mary Poppins: outstanding ensemble, outstanding supporting performer — Annabell Mizrahi, outstanding young performer — Ryleigh Lawton, outstanding musical director — Tim Hanes, and outstanding choreographer — Leslie Gettis.
DPHS’s tick, tick, BOOM: outstanding lead performer — Oliver Davids.
West Orange High’s Into the Woods: outstanding ensemble, outstanding lead performer — Emma Heistand, outstanding supporting performer — Zachary Croft and Parker Wallace, and outstanding set design — Ken Rush.
WOHS’s Mary Poppins: outstanding technical achievement, outstanding lead performer — Emma Heistand.
Windermere Preparatory School’s The Wizard of Oz: outstanding young performer — Macy Hayes.
Steven McCune of Dr. P. Phillips YMCA (not pictured) gives a water-safety presentation to the kids at Christ The King Lutheran PreSchool.
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