Honors and Awards
February 10, 2015
The U.S. Department of Education has announced that five Shawnee Mission students are candidates for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program, one of the most prestigious honors given to high school students. Candidates from the Shawnee Mission School District are Akshay Dinakar, SM East; Clara Ma, SM East; Nicholas Leyden, SM Northwest; Regina Yan, SM South; and Elijah Bunde, SM West.
Nicholas Leyden, a senior at SM Northwest, earned a perfect score on the ACT. On average, less than one-tenth of 1 percent of all test takers achieve this level of success on the exam.
![Freshmen Ian Murdock, Avery Cornelius and seniors Alexis Petry and Dylan Reed hold up the spirit stick Dec. 1 in the Main Gym. It was awarded to the band by judges due to their support of other groups. “In the moment, there was so much adrenaline and just pure energy,” Reed said. “Last year at [the Sweetheart assembly], we were a skit away from winning and I was hoping to run it back”](https://smnw.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ejohnson_nsln_12.1_52-475x317.jpg)