National and State Awards - 2018/2019
Members of the Class of 2019 Porter Burkett and Leah Vazsonyi have been awarded prestigious National Merit Scholarships. Porter is the son of proud parents Kelly and Michael Burkett. Leah is the daughter of equally proud parents, Agnes Mueller and Nicholas Vazsonyi.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced that seven Dreher seniors are 2019 National Merit Finalists. These academically talented students are (from left to right in the photo) Kathleen Allden, Grace Stricklin, Leah Vazsonyi, Jacob Lenski, Luke Lumpkin, Porter Burkett and Florence Wang.
Over 1.6 million juniors in about 22,000 high schools entered the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the PSAT/NMST Test in October, 2017. Less than one percent of these students qualified as Semifinalists. Dreher boasts more Semifinalists than all but four schools in South Carolina, two of which are magnet schools. From this group of Semifinalists, the National Merit Finalists are chosen.
Dreher is extremely proud of our seven qualifiers. All seven are talented both within and beyond the classroom. Kathleen is the daughter of Tara and Andrew Allden. Grace is the daughter of Carolyn and Vance Stricklin. Agnes Mueller Vazsonyi and Nicholas Vazsonyi are the parents of Leah. Jacob's parents are Laura and S. Phillip Lenski. Luke is the son of Julie and Lawrence Lumpkin. Porter's parents are Kelly and Michael Burkett. Florence is the daughter of Zaixiao Zhang and Qian Wang.
From left to right in the photo: Celeste Johnson, Thomas Johnson, Zuri Gilmore-Stevenson
National Commended Scholars score in the top 2-3% of all students nationwide who took the PSAT in October 2017, a pool of 1.6 million high school juniors.
Dreher was notified by the College Board that Florence Wang, class of 2019, and Michael Shimizu, class of 2020 "were among an elite group of students in the world to earn every point possible on an AP Exam, receiving the maximum score on each portion of the exam." Florence accomplished this extraordinary achievement on the AP Research exam she took in May, 2018. Only 111 students worldwide matched her score. Florence's AP research teacher is Sumter Link. Michael completed his perfect exam in AP Computer Science A in May, 2018. He was one of 193 students worldwide who received every available point on the Computer Science A exam. His teacher last year was Stefan Singer.
The scores of Michael Shimizu (right side of the photo) and Leon Wang (left in the photo) on the Local Chemistry Olympiad exam placed them among the top eight high school students who will represent South Carolina in the National Chemistry Olympiad. The local exam is a rigorous 110 minute test covering collegiate level chemistry (chemistry 1 and 2, organic chemistry, and physical chemistry).
Both Michael and Leon are students in Elizabeth Link's AP Chemistry class. Michael is the son of Ken and Linda Shimizu. Leon is the son of Zaixiao Zhang and Qian Wang. This is the third consecutive year that Dreher students have been delegates to the National Chemistry Olympiad. In fact, in the 2018-2019 school year we send two out of the eight allocated to South Carolina!
The US National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO) program is a chemistry competition for high school students. The purpose of the competition is to stimulate young people to achieve excellence in chemistry. The American Chemical Society has sponsored the program since 1984. The local competition is open to all high school students. The top eight scorers in South Carolina (including Leon and Michael) will be competing in the National Chemistry Olympiad in April. Top-scoring students from the national competition then will be invited to attend a study camp where they will practice for the international competition.
Congratulations to senior Anthony Androulakis, member of the Drher class of 2019.
The National Youth Science Camp is a residential STEM program designed to honor and challenge some of the nation's rising STEM leaders. Anthony was one of two delegates selected to represent South Carolina at this summer's camp. Details about the camp are at the NYSC website.
Earlier this year Anthony recieved the good news that the Society for Science & the Public selected him as a Top 300 Scholar in the 78th Regeneron Science Talent Search, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and mathematics competition for high school seniors. Nearly 2,000 students nationwide entered the competition this year and only one other student in South Carolina was selected to receive this honor.
Anthony investigated the topic, "Identifying the Neuroanatomical Correlates of Melodic Repetition Using a Novel Computerized Assessment in Stroke Patients." He will receive $2,000 and Dreher will receive the same amount to use toward STEM-related activities.
Alumni of the Science Talent Search have made extraordinary contributions to science and hold more than 100 of the world’s most distinguished science and math honors, including the Nobel Prize and the National Medal of Science.
Anthony is the son of George and Xiao Androulakis.
Congratulations to Nicholas Smith, class of 2022.
During a one week period, May 13-20, 2019, Nicholas, a freshman, sat for four mornings taking three State-mandated End-of-Course exams in English I (writing on the first day and reading on the third day), Biology I, and Algebra I. Not unusual, of course, since many freshmen throughout the state did the same. However, what is remarkable about Nicholas is that he scored 100 on each of the exams he took during that one week period!
Nicholas is the son of Richard and Saundra Smith. Mrs. Smith was in attendance for the Freshman Awards Ceremony when Nicholas's accomplishment was acknowledged.
Scores from Advanced Placment (AP) Exams taken in May 2019 and Mean SAT Scores from the graduating class of 2019 have been announced. On both measures the scores of Dreher students have exceeded both state and national averages.
In May 2019 Dreher administered 849 AP exams to 373 students. Seventy-six percent of the scores of our students were in the range of 3 to 5. Comparable levels in the State of South Carolina and in the nation were 58%.
Colleges and universities often grant class credit and use AP scores of three or higher to place students in higher course levels.
The mean SAT score for the Dreher seniors who graduated in May 2019 was 1124, composed of 568 on Evidence-based Reading and Writing (ERW) and 556 on Math. Seventy-four percent of the graduating seniors took the SAT, compared with 57% statewide.
The overall mean SAT score for South Carolina’s public school students was 1021 compared with the national public school mean of 1039. The breakdown of this total was as follows: SC’s mean ERW score was 521 compared with the national mean of 524 and the state’s Math average score was 500 while the nation’s was 515.
Twenty-three Dreher High School students in the Class of 2019 earned the College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) Capstone Diploma based on the work they completed at Dreher. An additional 20 students in the upcoming Class of 2020 have also met the requirements for the AP Capstone Diploma based on their work through the end of junior year.
Click here for the News Release listing the distinguished students and their fascinating research projects.
Links to statewide scores are on the SC Department of Education website.
The South Carolina State Department of Education has released the School Report Cards for the 2018-2019 school year and the news is EXCELLENT for Dreher.
A rating of EXCELLENT means that our school's performance "substantially exceeds the criteria to ensure all students meet the Profile of the SC Graduate."
Some highlights include our students' success on the End-of-Course Assessments. Our pass rates on all four tests exceeded state averages. (The percentages below are for the "four-year on-time graduation cohort.")
English I, 67.8% (200 out of 295) vs. 56.3% statewide
Algebra I, 65.2% (193/296) vs. 54.9% statewide
Biology, 60.9% (181/297) vs. 54.4% statewide
US History, 61.1% (160/262) vs. 47.7% statewide
To read the full report and to compare our school with schools statewide, see the Department's website.
According to the SC Department of Education webpage:
"Palmetto Gold and Silver Awards
As an important part of the education accountability system in South Carolina, the Awards program is designed to recognize and reward schools for attaining high levels of absolute performance, for attaining high rates of growth, and for making substantial progress in closing the achievement gap between disaggregated groups."
The 2018-2019 Accountability Manual for Public Schools in South Carolina states that high schools are awarded based upon four indicators: "Academic Achievement, Preparing for Success, Graduation Rate, and College/Career Readiness."
The Silver award requires a minimum rating of Good on 3 out of the 4 indicators, no rating lower than Average on the fourth indicator and an overall report card rating of Average or above.
Congratulations, Dreher students and staff!