Two UTPB STEM Academy students were feted by their peers, parents and campus officials Thursday for achieving National Merit Hispanic Recognition and National African American Recognition.
Isaac Arellano, 17, and Jashon Lemons were the honorees based on their PSAT scores.
Middle and High School Principal Cody Griffin said the students are ranked on their scores within a given location.
“So the state of Texas, in this instance, in order to qualify for these recognition programs, these two guys had to score in the top 10% of scores in the state of Texas. And in order to get these awards, they had to have a 3.5 or higher GPA and they have to be identified in one of the subcategories that the awards notify for. … Both guys qualified for the National Hispanic Recognition Award … and then, our second award that Jashon also got is our National African American Scholarship award,” Griffin said.
Griffin said these are the first two students from STEM that have qualified for these recognitions.
“We’ve only had two graduating classes and Isaac’s in the third graduating class. I’m gonna tell y’all, this is something for our kids to be proud of. You guys are getting prepared for college and this is an award that we want to make sure that you recognize. They’ve done fantastic. They have done absolutely fantastic and we’re very, very proud of them …,” Griffin said.
Isaac Arellano, a 17-year-old senior, said he’s leaning toward going to college to study computer science. He’s not sure which college he’s going to yet.
Arellano said he didn’t think he was going to get the recognition, but he got an email a couple of days ago.
“It’s pretty cool,” he said of being among the first to get this recognition. “I’ve been here since fifth grade, so it’s nice to be recognized for something before I leave.”
Arellano said the PSAT is kind of intimidating at first.
“But it really helps to calm down and read over questions once or twice. A lot of the times like when you see a question and you think you don’t know how to solve it, read it over a couple couple times, then you realize it’s pretty easy,” Arellano said.
He added that he didn’t really prepare for the exam, which he took last year.
Lemons, a 16-year-old junior, said being recognized this way was unexpected.
“I didn’t think I would get something like that, especially the top 10%,” Lemons said.
He added that they will take the SAT next.
“I feel like now I can get a higher score,” Lemons said.
A week or two before the test, he said he studied a lot, especially for the math section.
“But the reading, I’m just kind of used to it,” Lemons said.
Like Arellano, Lemons said it’s neat that the celebration of the recognition was public and it feels good to be among the first at STEM to earn it.
“It’s a big deal. It kind of hasn’t hit that it’s a big deal yet,” Lemons said.
He added that he was surprised to win the national merit recognition.
His advice for students who want to earn this recognition is to be hard working.
“You can’t slack off on it, especially big tests like that,” Lemons said.
He would like to attend UT Austin or Texas Tech University to study software engineering.
Lemons added that his parents have always wanted him to go to college.
“It’s kind of been set in stone since I was a kid. You need to get good grades. Now it’s just kind of natural to me,” Lemons said.
His mom, Nicole, said she home schooled Jashon until eighth grade. He started STEM Academy in ninth grade.
“I like it a lot. It gets better every year, honestly. They’re always adding new things,” Lemons said.
Nicole Lemons said she and her husband are very proud of Jashon and they tell him he can do great things if he puts his mind to it.
“We just give God all the glory …, especially with the times that we’re living in. You just never know what’s going to happen next, so just very, very proud of him,” Nicole Lemons said.
Griffin said STEM is trying to build lifelong learners.
“It’s one of our goals we have at STEM Academy, and part of that is if you’re planning on going to a college or university, we want you to be prepared for that experience. This is an example for two young men, again, the first in our graduating classes. This is our third graduating class, so it’s still young, but (they) are good examples of showing preparedness for college and career,” Griffin said.
