SMSD Shout Outs- January 2025

The entire community has much to celebrate about the Shawnee Mission School District.

As we move into the second half of the 2024-2025 school year, students and staff continue to impress through their many accomplishments. Here we share a few highlights from recent weeks, demonstrating how students and staff are ALL IN in support of student success:

●      The Presidential Cybersecurity Education Award was recently awarded to Jessica Tickle, SMSD Engineering Signature Program instructor. Tickle launched the district’s Cybersecurity program and integrates cybersecurity lessons into the classroom. She also leads competitive cybersecurity teams and has collaborated with industry leaders to help students gain experiences in the field. This honor is only given to two educators in the United States each year and is presented to those who demonstrate exceptional achievement in cybersecurity education.

●      Savannah Siceloff, a Shawnee Mission Northwest junior and Biotechnology Signature Program student, earned an incredible research opportunity. She was invited to the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research Conference in Puerto Rico. This invitation came based on work she is doing in the laboratory at the University of Kansas Medical Center. With the help of Dr. Lane Christensen, she is studying the effects of space flight on female fertility and offspring.

●      Additional recognitions for Shawnee Mission’s Signature Programs include:

○      Two groups of 2-Dimensional Animation students, led by instructor Enza Ketchum, took part in a 24-hour animation competition this fall. This competition drew more than 550 teams, mostly made up of college and university competitors. Out of 49 high school teams, Shawnee Mission’s Recover_Untitled team ranked in the top 10. The Cosmic Sunflowers team also finished and submitted their competition challenge, which is something not all teams are able to accomplish during the time period.

○      SMSD Cybersecurity students also had a strong showing at their first competition of the season at Wichita State University. SMSD students took first place in the 27-hour capture the flag competition that drew teams from high schools and junior colleges. Shawnee Mission also had a team place 8th in competition.

●      Susan Hallstrom, science teacher at Shawnee Mission East High School, was recognized by the Midwest Region of the American Chemistry Society. She was 1 of 10 educators nationally to receive the award for excellence in high school teaching.  

●      Shawnee Mission announced one primary and one secondary teacher to represent the district in the 2026 Kansas Teacher of the Year program. Shauna Hammett, a kindergarten teacher at Apache Elementary School, and Lara Caldwell, an English teacher at Horizons High School are the district nominees. The Kansas Teacher of the Year Award recognizes and utilizes representatives of excellent teaching in the elementary and secondary classrooms of the state. Both educators will be honored as part of the Kansas Teacher of the Year program.

●      Shawnee Mission Parents as Teachers (PAT) has earned the designation of Blue Ribbon Affiliate from the national Parents as Teachers organization. This designation recognizes that the district’s affiliate provides the highest quality services possible. Shawnee Mission Parents as Teachers completed a process that demonstrated they meet or exceed all PAT requirements as well as a large majority of quality standards. Parents as Teachers serves families of young children, ages birth to Kindergarten, by providing information, support, personal home visits, social activities, and developmental screenings. Click here for more information about Parents as Teachers.

●      Shawnee Mission teams and individual competitors were ALL IN during the fall athletic season. Here are a few highlights announced at the December 9, 2024 Board of Education meeting:

○      Shawnee Mission East Boys soccer team won the state championship.

○      The Shawnee Mission East Girls tennis team was state runner up.

○      In Girls golf, Shawnee Mission East also was state runner up.

○      In gymnastics, Andi Prendiville, SM East junior, earned second place in vault and Claire Rogers from SM East earned second place in bars.

○      Charlotte Hardy, a Shawnee Mission East sophomore earned second place in cross country.

○      Shawnee Mission South Boys and Shawnee Mission East Girls placed third as teams in cross country.

○      Shawnee Mission Northwest made it to Sectionals and Shawnee Mission East made it to Regionals in football.

○      Shawnee Mission East and Shawnee Mission Northwest also qualified for state in Unified Bowling.

○      Shawnee Mission West earned fifth place in cheer and Shawnee Mission East earned sixth place in dance at the Kansas State High School Athletics Association Game Day Showcase.

●      At the middle school level, Indian Woods Girls and Indian Hills Boys were district champions in cross country. Trailridge was district champion in volleyball. Indian Woods (boys and girls combined) was champion in wrestling. Shawnee Mission also had an outstanding first season of middle school football, though the district did not have championship playoffs this year.

●      This fall, 3,691 middle and high school students engaged in athletics.

 

The achievements highlighted here are just a snapshot of the incredible work happening across the Shawnee Mission School District. Together, our students, staff, and community continue to show how they are ALL IN.