School winners

Lake Stevens teen wins speech contest

Rylie Ploeger, a senior at Lake Stevens High School, took first place at the state finals of the Constitutional Speech Contest held Feb. 2 at the Mid-Winter Conference of The American Legion at the SeaTac Marriott.

Rylie’s speech, “American Impartiality,” discussed the 24th Amendment, which prohibits “poll taxes” or other restrictions on voting. She had five minutes to prepare for this part of the competition.

She earned a $2,000 scholarship and will represent Washington at the national level, with an expenses-paid trip to Indianapolis April 19 to 21.

Rylie is the daughter of Ken and Reshal Ploeger of Lake Stevens. She was sponsored by Lake Stevens American Legion Auxiliary Unit 181.

Lake Stevens senior to Naval Academy

Lake Stevens High School senior Robert Alexander DeGabriele will begin training in June at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Robert, 17, was nominated by U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen after completing a rigorous application and interview.

“I want to be part of something bigger than myself,” he said. He comes from a long line of Marines and sailors. “I want to serve my country. I want a good education and a job that allows me to use new technologies. I’ve done well in school and fulfilled leadership positions and I want to utilize all of my skills. I’m very excited about this opportunity.”

At LSHS, Robert is the senior class senator, a member of the track and cross country teams and a peer tutor. He is the son of Robert and Victoria DeGabriele of Lake Stevens.

Tech students advance to state

Two Snohomish County schools recently hosted regional competitions of the Technology Student Association, which included structural engineering and problem-solving events.

Brier Terrace Middle School on Jan. 12 hosted 85 students from five middle schools, including the four middle schools in the Edmonds School District. Henry M. Jackson High School in Mill Creek hosted a competition Feb. 2.

Participants now set their eyes on the state competition to be held March 28 to 30 in Bellevue.

Top local finishers:

Brier Terrace Middle: Alex Joo and Fadel Shtiui (second place, Structural Engineering); Daniel Orsborn and Justin Ong, and Marina Messak and Ashley Ruiz (tie for third place, Problem Solving); Alex Simkowiak, Russell Presho and Matthew Johnson (third place, Structural Engineering).

College Place Middle: Dillon Weiler and Kaleb Smith (first place, Problem Solving); Garrison Krohn and Ben Andres (first place, Structural Engineering).

Jackson High: Sridutt Nimmagadda (first place, Career Preparations); Sridutt Nimmagadda (first place, Extemporaneous Speech); Emily O’Hare (first place, Photographic Technology); Alexa Dimaano (first place, Promotional Graphics); Aaron Oh and Robert Kim (first place, Problem Solving); Sai Nimmagadda (second place, Extemporaneous Speech); Daisy Lee (second place, Promotional Graphics); Blake Podnar (second place, Essays on Technology); Jameson Olsen and Paul Kim (second place, Structural Engineering); Chester Pham (third place, Career Preparations); Sabrina Smith (third place, Extemporaneous Speech); Everett Wang (third place, Essays on Technology); Brandon Mar and Ronald Chu (third place, Problem Solving)

Mountlake Terrace High: Paxtyn Merten (first place, Essays on Technology); Connor Ebright and Jonathan Theim (first place, Structural Engineering); AsiaLee Donnely (second place, Career Preparations); Joey Owens and Taina Pennington-Obispo (second place, Problem Solving); Haeley Johnston and Joey Owens (third place, Structural Engineering)

Student leaders host leadership meet

Heatherwood Middle School in Mill Creek hosted 300 student leaders and their advisors Feb. 7, including all five Everett School District middle schools and seven other schools from Snohomish County, for a Middle Level Regional Leadership Conference.

The theme was “Find Your Leadership Beat.”

The facilitators were from Washington Student Leadership and were members of the middle-level summer leadership camp staff.

Twelve students from Heatherwood were on the main board to plan skits, sing songs and lead group activities to teach the delegates how to become leaders and make a difference in their school.

Granite Falls teen picked for WAS

Granite Falls High School junior Aakash Sethi has been accepted into the Washington Aerospace Scholars 2012-13 program.

Aakash was selected from more than 280 students from 119 different public, private and home school organizations who applied.

He will spend the next five months competing academically for one of the 160 slots in a summer residency session to be held at the Museum of Flight in June and July.

To qualify for the summer residency, students must satisfactorily complete 10 online lessons consisting of research essays, space-related math problems and detailed graphics that illustrate their ideas.

Rotary honors Snohomish students

Snohomish Rotary’s Students of the Quarter:

Valley View Middle School: Jaxsen Sweum and Leah Welch.

Centennial Middle School: Will Heinemann and Molly Walton.

AIM High School: Ryan Spiegel and Stephanie Biernot.

Glacier Peak High School: Jack Wygant, Pierce Lackey, Myrinda Wolitarsky and Chantel Conrad.

Snohomish High School: Hannah Andersen, Brad Hodkinson, Brenden Perry and Brock Owen.

Mukilteo teachers awarded grants

The Mukilteo Schools Foundation recently awarded 35 grants of up to $500 each to help Mukilteo teachers fund classroom projects that are intended to improve student achievement.

The grants are awarded each year using funds that the foundation has raised through corporate and individual donations. A total of more than $15,000 in grants were awarded during the Feb. 11 Mukilteo School Board meeting.

In addition to giving classroom grants, the Mukilteo Schools Foundation has also purchased science libraries for fifth-grade classrooms and will offer scholarships for graduating seniors.

To submit items, email newstips@heraldnet.com and put [“]School Winners” in the subject line, or leave a message for Melissa Slager at 425-312-3530.