Minnesota’s Distinguished High School Students Honored for Exemplary Levels of Performance

Fifty-two Minnesota students were honored at the Scholars of Distinction Ceremony at the Perpich Center for Arts Education in Golden Valley

ROSEVILLE, MN – Fifty-two distinguished Minnesota high school students were honored at the Scholars of Distinction award program in the areas of Science, STEM, Social Studies, Leadership and Theater Arts. Of the 52, three students received distinctions in more than one category.

The Scholars of Distinction selection process is overseen by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). To earn recognition, a student must complete required work in Minnesota’s academic standards, demonstrate mastery of complex subject matter, and apply their knowledge and skills on a challenging project. Experts in each category read and score the applications, and students are awarded a medal and certificate. A ceremony was held by MDE at the Perpich Center for Arts Education to honor the scholars.

All students who wish to apply for a Scholar of Distinction Award can find more information on MDE’s website.

The students honored were:       

Leadership Meritorious Awards

Catherine Pirtle, Breck School
Project: Does Teamwork Make the Dreamwork?

Devika Narayan, Wayzata High School*
Project: Healing with Harmony: A Music Therapy App for Alzheimer’s Patients

Social Studies Scholars of Distinction

Brian Lin, Wayzata High School
Economics Project: Fighter Aircraft as Giffen Goods

Tamar V. Gewirtz, St. Louis Park Senior High School
Civics Project: Trial and Error: The causes and consequences of wrongful convictions

Social Studies Meritorious Awards

Rashmita Gandhe, Wayzata High School
Economics Project: Assessing Change in Economic and Psychological Well-Being from a Multifaceted Program in the Philippines

Aviral Asthana, Wayzata High School
Economics Project: Modelling Housing Affordability and Subsidies in the United States Analyzing the Potential Need and Impacts of Government Subsidy

Meredith Kleve, Wayzata High School
Economics Project: Effects of Corporate Social Responsibility on Work Force Culture

Amogh Kulkarni, Wayzata High School
Applied History Project: The Role of Formative Political, and Supportive Social and Economic, Factors in the Historical Growth of Paris

Science Scholars of Distinction

George Cai, Wayzata High School*
Project: Drug Discovery for Treating Heart Failure: Validating Compound Screening for Ryanodine Receptor 2

Emily Chu, Wayzata High School *
Project: Calibration of Target Word Embedded in a Carrier Phrase

George Lyu, Wayzata High School*
Project: Nondisruptive Evaluation of Cell Viability of Cell-laden Hydrogels

Manashree Padiyath, Woodbury Senior High School
Project: Thyme and Thyme again! Investigation of synergistic antimicrobial activity of Thymus vulgaris Essential Oil in combination with ‘superfood’ Essential Oils

Chintam Chandan Reddy, Wayzata High School
Project: A Novel Treatment for Non-small Cell Lung Cancer: A Project Review of the Fulvestrant and Dacomitinib Drug Combination

Aarohi Shah, Wayzata High School
Project: Determining Expression of Experimental Antigens in Subclones of Melanoma Cell Lines

Science Meritorious Awards

Saipraneeth Bajjuri, Wayzata High School
Project: Evaluation of Critical (Polymer and Drug) Concentration for Making Amorphous Solid Dispersions using Electrospinning Technology

Madison Ceminsky, Mankato West High School
Project: Figure Skating Impact Forces

Amanda Chan, Wayzata High School
Project: Determining whether Implementing a Triblock Copolymer can Improve the Compatibility between Poly(D,L-lactide) and Low-Density Polyethylene

Sonia Gazula, Wayzata High School
Project: Mechanisms Underlying the Contributions of Inhibitory Protein Signaling to Anxiety-Related Behaviors

Abhishek Mahesh, Wayzata High School
Project: Elevated Levels Of Soluble Toxic Δtau314 In Huntington’s Disease Brain

Devika Narayan, Wayzata High School
Project: Understanding interactions between Insulin and Amyloid-Beta Fibril Formation in Alzheimer’s patients: Year II

Sarayu Patturi, Wayzata High School
Project: Understanding and Relating the Effects of Demographic and Infectious Parameters with Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency

Ava Raffel, Breck School +
Project: Facing off with FSHD: Designing a cell line to model facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy

Nirali Somia, Wayzata High School
Project: A Genetic Interaction between Sax-7 and Let-60: Effect on Penetrance and Expressivity

Iris Wang, Wayzata High School
Project: Immune Editing of Antigen Presentation Machinery in Pancreatic Cancer

Zachary Xiong, Wayzata High School
Project: Detection of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA)

Annelise Wickman, Wayzata High School
Project: The Effects of Prolonged Exposure to Ethanol Vapor on Anxiety-Like Behaviors in Rats

Theater Arts Scholars of Distinction

Elizabeth Avery, East Ridge High School
Project: Acting/Musical Theater Project: A Commitment to Collaboration and Captivating Characterization

Grace Bureau, Academy of Holy Angels
Acting Project: Engendering Empathy through Performance, Scholarship, and Generous Leadership

Kaitlyn Callahan, Andover High School
Acting/Musical Theater Project: The Power of Storytelling to Change the World and Guide Young Theater Artists

Mara Currens, Eagan High School
Acting/Musical Theater Project: Transforming Perceptions and Humanity with Bold Artistic Vision

Kate Larson, Cambridge-Isanti High School
Comprehensive: Acting and Technical Theater/Costume Design Project: Illuminating and Interpreting Worlds on Stage

Brayton Matuska, Loyola Catholic School (Mankato)
Acting/Musical Theater Project: The Importance of the Ensemble and Emotion in Forging Connections

McCrossen Schiller, East Ridge High School
Acting/Musical Theater Project: Excavating the Depth and Complexity of Comedic Characters

Nolan Sherburne, East Ridge High School
Technical Theater/Scenic Design Project: Finding One’s Place in and through Theatrical Design

Anuli Steve-Chinatu, Academy of Holy Angels
Comprehensive: Technical Theater – Stage Management and Scenic Design Project: Exemplifying Theater’s 21st Century Skills: Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Problem Solving

Sierra Rosetta Tumbleson, Martin County West Senior High School
Acting Project: Under Three Lights: Finding Home, Creating Community, Changing Lives

Ethan Williams, East Ridge High School
Acting/Musical Theater Project: Inspiring Hope through the Power of Performance

Meritorious Performance in Theater Arts

Allison Colberg, East Ridge High School
Directing Project: Activating Theater’s Healing Potential for Artists and Audiences

May Heinecke, Edina Senior High School
Acting/Musical Theater Project: Expanding Inclusion in the Arts with Energy and Enthusiasm

Meghan Horan, East Ridge High School
Acting Project: Creating Authentic Characters, Exploring the Authentic Self

Jeannie Hurley, Chanhassen High School
Technical Theater/Costume Design Project: Crafting Form and Function in Close Collaboration

Sri Peck, Academy of Holy Angels
Acting/Musical Theater Project: Embodying Characters with Believability, Honesty, and a Sense of Discovery

STEM Scholars of Distinction

Emily Chu, Wayzata High School*
Project: Calibration of Target Word Embedded in Carrier Phrase

Neil Khadilkar, Wayzata high School
Project: The Fracture Behavior of Copper Nanowires from Atomistic Simulations

Harshil Ganesha Murthy, Wayzata High School
Project: Intelligent Labeling System Using Mean Shift Tracking

STEM Meritorious Awards

Elizabeth Berman, Breck School +
Project: Analyzing Autistic Traits

Shreyas Chinnola, Wayzata High School
Project: Collaborative Communication in Virtual Reality Using Speech and Waypoints

Samantha Detor, Breck School +
Project: Project: Searching the Shadows: Using Machine Learning to Classify Trees in Aerial Imagery

Saketh Kollipara, Wayzata +
Project: Improving Prostate Cancer Treatment: Optimizing Targeted Drug Delivery Using Nanoparticles

George Lyu, Wayzata High School *
Project: Nondisruptive Evaluation of Cell Viability of Cell-laden Hydrogels

Mehul Maheshwari, Wayzata High School
Project: The Field of View’s Associations on Cybersickness in Virtual Reality

Aniketh Naidu, Wayzata High School
Project: Improving Prostate Cancer Treatment: Optimizing Targeted Drug Delivery Using Nanoparticles

Sarayu Patturi, Wayzata High School*
Project: Understanding and Relating the Effects of Demographic and Infectious Parameters with Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency

Abigail Roh, Breck School+*
Project: Searching the Shadows: Using Machine Learning to Classify Trees in Aerial Imagery

Caroline Sassan, Wayzata High School
Project: Synthesis, Characterization, and Antimicrobial Application of Zinc Nanocomposites

Joint Project +
Dual Applicant *

Contact Wendy Hatch at wendy.hatch@state.mn.us, 651-582-8717 with any questions. 

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