Yes. So, leading our celebration this area is executive director of communications, Mr. John Cop. Welcome, John. Good evening, President Draper, Superintendent Kingsley, board directors, and everyone joining us in person or online. Each board meeting gives us the opportunity to celebrate the remarkable achievements of students
and staff across PSD. Tonight is no exception. We have five recognitions and we'll begin with two accomplished athletes. Billy Greenwood has earned back-to-back state championships in wrestling and Mariah Gonzalez capped off a perfect 30 and0 season to become the state champion in the girls 235 pound
weight class. I'd like to invite Will Kentwell to the podium. Hello. Uh good evening everyone. My name is Will Canwell. I'm the athletic director and assistant principal at Pter High School. And I just want to thank the board of education for your continued support of
athletics and for giving us the opportunity to recognize a few of our state champions here this evening. And I am going to hand it over to their coaches at this time. And I believe we're going to start with uh our girls wrestling head coach Desiree Kendall um
who has built an incredible program. It's actually a Pter school district stars team. So, it's a collection of student athletes from all of our comprehensive schools. Um, I know a little bit about this challenge. Um, it is one in terms of bringing the team
together and Desiree does an incredible job of this and she's built this girls wrestling program up in a short amount of time. And, uh, we have our very first state champion. So, I'm going to allow Desiree to speak about Mariah. you have to come with me. Uh good evening and thank you for this
opportunity. Um this season was extremely exciting. Um, and myself and my two wonderful co- coaches, extra coaches, other coaches, uh, Coach Josh and Chandra Engel. Um, we all just want to say how proud we are of you. Um, and
just how exciting it is to see an athlete like Mariah get to be our very first state champion. Um, Mariah encompasses everything that we are trying to do with our program. Um because we are a district-wide program, it is so important that when athletes come into our room, they feel like they
are at home, they feel safe, they feel comfortable, um and they are able to cross their school lines and make really great friends. And Mariah has been an absolute champion at that in our program. Um she actually attends Pter
and so it is her home school and so I think she takes advantage of that and really brings in the athletes from the other schools. Um she came in as a friend coming from an ex program at Cash Lauder Middle School um where they really love girls wrestling and they're
doing a great job there um encouraging girls to wrestle and so she got to come from a great program and I think she got to bring a lot of that excitement with her into our room which been just really fantastic. Um Mariah is an excellent student. She participates in other clubs
and activities at Pter. Um, and she manages to make it work so that she can do all of her activities. Um, and she puts in the work. She puts in the work to have injuries. She puts in the work to get better in the off season. Um, she
is a, let's see, voracious learner. I feel like I said that wrong. Um, but she's constantly wanting to get better. Um, both on the mat and off mat. And so she is an incredible representation of our program and all of us coaches are so
incredibly proud of you and thank you for the experience of being in the corner um for the very first time in a state championship match. That is a moment that I will absolutely never forget and something that will probably
never be topped. So thank you so much. You're amazing. Would you like to say a few words? Okay. Hi everybody. Winning state is a dream come true, but I couldn't have done it alone. Mom, dad, and a Kristen, thank
you for coming to every tournament, no matter how far. To my coaches, thank you for pushing me through my injuries and tough matches. Girls wrestling has taught me so much, not only how to be independent, tough, and proud. But it builds athletes and strong, independent people. I'm so honored just to be a part
of this sport. Thank you. to give you. Is that true? Okay. I just wanted to point out to everybody, I see here on Mariah's certificate that it says she was undefeated all season long. So, congratulations.
Congrats, Mariah. Yeah, Mariah was 30 and0. Um and and now I have have the honor to introduce our boys wrestling coach Barrett Golier. This has kind of become old hat for Barrett. He's been here many times before. He's kind of built Pter
wrestling into a you know a state powerhouse and that's a testament to to all of his hard work, dedication and commitment. And uh Billy Greenwood also has quite a resume as well as one of the better wrestlers to come through here in a while. So, um, looking forward to you
all hearing from them. And, uh, Barrett Gallier, again, thank you board for doing this recognition. Um, Superintendent Kingsley, I made it to the fourth round of the sixth grade spelling bee. Okay, so spelling and wrestling. Um anyway, I want to talk about uh Billy
Greenwood for just uh a few moments here and it's really a a privilege um to speak on behalf of one of the most remarkable student athletes I've I've had the honor to coach. He's going to go on and wrestle at in in um Little Rock
out in Arkansas um Pack 10 Championship team and and division one program. Billy's a two-time state wrestling champion, but his impact stretches far beyond the mat. and he has set the standard in our program, not just with his accomplishments, but with the way he
carries himself every single day. He has taught me and his teammates to be serious about their work, um, but light about who they are. Billy is someone who brings the stress level down. He is a fierce competitor, disciplined, I'd say clutch under pressure and incredibly
intelligent. In fact, his singing IQ is the highest I've ever seen in all my years of coaching. He wrestled like a college wrestler already, breaking down positions, being dynamic in the flow of the match, creating opportunities to score and also he he helps others to
learn the same thing. Um he sets he's apart because he lifts other people up and that's really important. Even as a champion, Billy has never acted like he's above anyone. He treats every teammate with dignity and respect. Whether it's a first year wrestler or
just learning the basics or or another state finalist, he treats them um with respect and he leads with humility. He's got a relentless work ethic and a quiet confidence. Make others believe they can achieve more. And I think that's ultimately what we're looking at doing
and installing and instilling in with our athletes is how do they raise other people up? It's not about wins and losses cuz I I think Billy' be the same same guy even if if he wasn't uh on the top of the podium. Um but it's just been an honor and I I want um on the Billy on
behalf of your coaches, your teammates and entire school community, congratulations. We're so proud of you. We're excited to see what the future holds. Congratulations. Congratulations. We're so proud of you. So two years in a row, how did it fun?
Okay. All right. Thank you, Billy, for being a back-to-back state champion. Our next honores represented two of our amazing elementary schools in the state Spanish spelling bee. Uh we'll begin with honoring Vanna Sakiraa who placed fourth in the state spelling bee.
Valeria Fierro Sto who took third place in the state Spanish spelling bee and Andrea Quutoto who claimed the title of state Spanish spelling be champion. I'd like to invite Norma Huerta Kelly and Lindseay Moser to the podium. Uh well I have to say my husband was a
wrestler, my son was a wrestler and I was a spelling be champ. So yes, they both go together. Um Good afternoon everyone and thank you for this recogn recognition of our bilingual students um and this invit in
invitation. It's a it's an honor. I'd like to introduce our teacher and coach Miss Burton who has a few words to share about our students. So, I'm not how sure how to do this, but um good afternoon and it is an honor to introduce these amazing bilingual
students that we have at Harris. Um first one is Andrea Gonzalez Quetto who was our fifth grade state Spanish spelling bee champion. and Vanna Lopez Seaga who was our fourth
place. She placed fourth place for the fourth grade Spanish spelling B section. Harris. And Timness. Hello, my name is Andrea Gonzalees Quto and I am a fifth grade
student at Harris Bilingual Merchant School. I want to thank my parents, Miss Burden and Miss Werta Kelly for supporting me in the cab spelling be in Denver. I am very proud to be bilingual like my parents and hopefully I will be
able to continue to participate in this spell when I attend Timnet next year. Thank you. participas school district. Good afternoon. Thank you for this invitation and the recognition. But none of this would be possible without the support of
my parents, my teacher, and my school. My mother supported me a lot and my sister was with me, always with me. My teacher, Senor Fontes, motivated me to do better. And my bilingual school with my principal, Senora Wora Keri, who will
miss a lot. It was an honor to represent my school, my language, and my family. I hope to continue participating. Thank you, Pa School District. Thank you. Hello, my name is Lindsay Moer. I'm the principal at Irish Elementarying.
So, Irish in nostroa. Um, I'm here representing two teachers um that uh that were really made this um possible for our school. Um Isel Cervantes and um uh uh Freda Muika.
But first, I would like to introduce Valeria Fieros Sto. Come on up. Okay. Okay. Okay. Constant. educing. Um, Valeria's dedication is truly inspiring. With unwavering support
from her mother, Suhei, who went above and beyond to help her study, Valyriia practiced diligently and consistently. What stood out most was Valyria's unwavering grit and dedication. She competed against students all the way up to 8th grade and proved that strength in
Spanish is something to be celebrated and uplifted. Thank you Valeria for representing Irisha Vilingu. We are proud to be a part of your mult multilingual educational journey. Okay. No. Okay, gracias.
To all of tonight's honores, congratulations. We're proud of your hard work, your passion, and the way you represent PSD. This concludes tonight's recognitions. I now invite everyone who was recognized along with our board directors and superintendent to join us at the front of the room for a group photo.