Vote for IndyStar Student of the Week

Congratulations again to Elijah Brinkley, a senior at Charles A. Tindley Accelerated School, winner of last week's Student of the Week contest!

Welcome to the final IndyStar Student of the Week contest of the school year. Since January, we have introduced you to some of central Indiana's finest high school students. While we celebrate our student athletes in other spaces, the idea of the Student of the Week contest is to highlight students whose accomplishments go beyond the playing field.

The students you meet here may be particularly accomplished in the classroom, stand out in a specific extracurricular area or just make a special effort to make their school communities better places. Each week we invite area schools to nominate one student per school and ask their nominators to write a few students about why they chose these students.

We then ask you, our readers, to vote for your favorite. Readers can vote more than once and do not need to vote for the same student each time.Voting stays open until Thursday at noon. On Friday morning we announce the winner.Congratulations to all the students who have been nominated over the past year!

Nominees for IndyStar Student of the Week

Katherine Constantino, a senior at St. Theodore Guerin High School. Katherine is an IB diploma candidate and National Honor Society member with an outstanding GPA of 3.879. She will attend Notre Dame in the fall to study Chemical Engineering. Beyond the classroom, Katherine is very involved in athletics participating in varsity soccer in the fall and varsity lacrosse in the spring. She has been part of the back-to-back state championship Guerin Catholic Girls Lacrosse team and is hoping, as captain this year, to lead her team to another victory. Her confidently calm leadership skills keep her team focused on and off the field. She also engages in a wide variety of community service activities completing at least 100 hours of service yearly. Katherine is a hard-working, intelligent, composed, and positive individual whose diligent work in the classroom, extracurricular activities, and service exemplify a Guerin Catholic student.

Oliver Deer, a sophomore at Shortridge High School. Oliver is present, he is kind and he is on task. He takes his learning seriously and he pushes himself to go beyond average. The skills he learns through the process are high achievement and evident in his projects. He is articulate and thorough as he reflects on his process. While maintaining a 4.18 average, he is also involved in extracurricular sports and clubs. Oliver makes a constant impact on many of our athletic teams as he leads by example on our Varsity Swim Team, Varsity Boys Volleyball Team and JV Soccer team. He consistently shows up with the right attitude and displays amazing sportsmanship day in and day out. Oliver is one of our hardest working musicians and is also the type of student who always says thank you as he walks out the door. He is also the drum set player for pep band as well as one of our top performers in Advanced Band. He was selected as a scholarship recipient for the Bands of America Summer Symposium at Ball State University last summer and again for this summer. Oliver is an amazing example of a well-rounded, positive influence at our school!Liz Ponce, a senior at Ben Davis High School. Liz embodies everything a model student in high school should be! While enrolled in her classes, she constantly showed steady growth and improvement, and maintained outstanding rapport with her classmates, as she continues to do in school every day. Liz would be the first one to help someone in need and is one of the most selfless students we have been around in our times as educators. Balancing her willingness to help others, she constantly looks for new ways to learn within both school and social situations. We are extremely proud of Liz and can't wait to see what her future holds!Dawt Hlei Sang, a senior at Southport High School. Dawt Hlei Sang’s academic achievements, extracurricular involvement, dedication and personality are undeniable and worth celebrating! While at Southport High School, Dawt has taken 19 advanced level courses, 21 if you count courses taken in middle school. He began his high school career in challenging courses, and never slowed down. As a senior, he is excelling in our most advanced Math, Science, English and Social Studies classes. He sits in the top 1% of his class, never having earned a grade below a B! He has received Honors such as National Honor Society, AP Scholar with Distinction and was named a Rising Star of Indiana for the class for 2024. Recently, Dawt was awarded The Gates Scholarship (full ride) by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation! Dawt plans to attend Earlham College to study Biochemistry, with hopes of becoming a radiologist.

Dawt has made quite the impression on his teachers. Mr. Adler (Math) says, “Dawt might be the most well-rounded student in the senior class! He's in the highest math class we offer, he does robotics, but he also does debate and choir. Whatever "hat" he's wearing at the time, he puts his full effort in, with a smile on his face. He's completely humble and genuine. You can't help but smile when interacting with him. He's the kind of kid you root for, the kind you want your own kids to grow up to be like.” Ms. Richardson, Dawt’s choir director shares, “He is an amazing student and human being! Always kind, takes initiative, and has wonderful leadership qualities!: and Mr. Bockelman (English) shares “Dawt is a gifted writer and a lifelong learner. He is naturally inquisitive and curious. He enjoys the learning process and often goes above and beyond expectation. Dawt is a role model for his peers and is responsible for enhancing their learning experiences as well.”

Outside of the classroom, Dawt doesn’t slow down. He is involved in Choir, Robotics, Speech & Debate and at his church. He serves his community by volunteering through music, bible school, Camp Invention leadership, and much more. Southport High School is proud to call Dawt a Cardinal and looks forward to rooting on Dawt’s future success.

Kaoe Ziegler, a junior at Franklin Central High School. Kaoe Ziegler is a wonderful leader in Franklin Central High School. He has continued to show improvement in the classroom, all while participating in multiple sports. Kaoe leads by example for his teammates and peers in whatever setting he is in. Kaoe works incredibly hard to meet and surpass his goals while holding his teammates and peers accountable, too.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Vote for IndyStar Student of the Week