Monica Roy Chowdhury is an incredibly well-rounded student. Not only is she a nationally recognized science scholar, she's also deeply involved in student council and community service activities at Blue Valley High and in the community. But what's even greater about Monica's achievements is her positive attitude and deep love for her school. Chowdhury is graduating from Blue Valley High this year, but she is leaving behind a legacy of hard work and love of community.

"Monica's best trait is her willingness to go above and beyond what's expected,” said Adam Wade, Blue Valley High calculus teacher. “She gives maximum effort to everything she does. I think her perseverance, dedication and desire to do well are big parts of her success."

Monica has experienced great success in the science arena. This year, she was named a semifinalist in the 2010 Intel Science Talent Search. The Intel Science Talent Search (STS) is a prestigious national science competition. The Intel STS recognizes 300 students and their schools as semifinalists each year pulling from approximately 1,700 applicants to compete for $1.25 million in awards. Monica was also selected as a finalist in the 2009-10 Siemens Competition in Math, Science, and Technology. The Siemens Competition is regarded as one of the leading science and mathematics research-based competitions for high school students.

For her, the joy of science is about the ability to help others.

"Science is something I'm really passionate about because of my natural curiosity and my desire to make a difference and help people,” Monica said. “I feel I can best do that through science."

She has spent time working in laboratories at the University of Kansas and the University of Missouri-Kansas City on projects geared toward finding cures for cancer. Monica’s goal in life is to help people with diseases. She intends to pursue a medical career after high school, but Monica is committed to using all of her skills, not just her talent for research, to give back to others in the community.

One community where she has spent much of her time giving back is Blue Valley High. She is heavily involved with student council and has also served for the last two years as the event chair for the school's Relay for Life fundraiser. This event benefits the American Cancer Society (ACS). Monica has helped raise more than $90,000 in her four years at BVH through Relay for Life.

She is a Tiger Mentor, leading freshman advisory classes. She also helped organize the school’s blood drive, has been involved in forensics, tennis, the KAY Club (a community service organization), among many others. Monica is also a member of the Science Outreach Club at BVH. She and fellow members of the club visit elementary and middle school classrooms to perform hands-on science experiments geared toward getting younger students interested in science. In honor of her leadership skills that have contributed to the success of her many activities at BVH, she was selected to  receive the Principal's Leadership Award  at BVH for 2010.

Monica enjoys being involved in her community and wants to give back to a school that has given her so much support.

"Being involved in community service is something that is very important to me and Blue Valley High has been an amazing place,” she said. “The faculty and the administration are wonderful and have taken a personal interest in me and in every student in the school."

Monica also said that the support and encouragement of her parents Debjani and Sujit Roy Chowdhury for all her activities has inspired her to give her best to the community.

In addition to graduation from high school, Monica is also scheduled for graduation in August 2010 from her Indian Classical dance school, Nritya Academy. Learning Indian dance has been a big part of her life outside of school.

Monica has chosen the University of Kansas (KU) to pursue the chemical engineering honors program with a pre-med focus. She received a full ride scholarship with some of  KU's top scholarship awards.

Now as she looks toward the future, Monica  is excited for the possibilities ahead and hopeful that no matter where she goes and what she does, she will be able to do what’s most important to her: helping others.

What's the key to feeling happy? Lilly Hallock, Lakewood Elementary fifth grader has a simple answer: helping others.

Lilly works to raise awareness about autism. She also tutors Blue Valley students during the summer and sends words of encouragement to orphans in Haiti. In addition, she raises money for several charities through national fundraising events as well as through lemonade stands, bake sales, garage sales and other events she organizes on her own. Lilly truly believes that there is power in helping others in every way she can.

Her efforts have proven so impactful that when Patsy Mura, Lakewood Elementary gifted teacher, nominated Lilly for The National Association for Gifted Children's 2009-10 Nicholas Green Distinguished Student Award, she won.

Each year, the National Association for Gifted Children selects one student per state in grades three through six to receive the award in honor of Nicholas Green, a gifted student who died at the age of seven. The Nicholas Green Distinguished Student Award recognizes students who are working hard to make the most of their unique gifts and talents.

"Lilly works incredibly hard to help others," said Mura, Lilly's gifted teacher. "For her it is really all about reaching out to those in need. Lilly consistently puts others ahead of herself. She stands as a true example of leadership, caring and meritorious service to others."

Fundraising for autism is especially important to Lilly. She even created and organized her own event called Money Bunny. Lilly started the fundraiser as a third grader. That year, her 15-month-old cousin was diagnosed with autism and Lilly had to find a way to help.

April is Autism Awareness month and also when Easter fell that year. So that April, Lilly asked friends and neighbors to fill plastic Easter eggs with spare change. She awarded her most generous donors with treats that she baked herself. The fundraiser has become a tradition among those who know Lilly.

In the three years since she began Money Bunny, Lilly has raised more than $1,500 for autism research. From the fliers she creates and distributes to baking and delivering treats to her biggest donors, Lilly manages it all and hopes her hard work will help find a cure.

This year, Lilly brought her fundraiser to school where Lakewood Elementary students generously contributed. She raised more than $500 and had plenty of assistance thanks to fellow students who felt inspired to join in and help. Lilly gave a pizza party for the classroom that contributed the most.

In addition to Money Bunny, Lilly has been a regular participant in walks for diabetes, cancer and autism for four years. During the events, Lilly thinks of the friend who has cancer, juvenile diabetes or autism and hopes for a cure.

"Walking for these causes helps me connect with them," Lilly said. "I want to help people and make the world a better place."

Another favorite project is Freedom Fire Ministries. Through this organization, Lilly has enjoyed the chance to visit with needy children from downtown Kansas City. From the first visit, she connected with them and went on to plan a Halloween party where she enlisted a team of friends and neighbors to help with games, face painting, snacks and candy. About 50 inner city children attended.

"I know that I loved being there more than they loved having me," she said.

Lilly works hard to raise money and provide comfort whenever she can. But this is only part of her work. Lilly is also a dedicated advocate for children with special needs, including autism. It is a role that she takes very seriously.

"I've seen people make fun of kids with special needs," she said. "I want to teach them not to."

Lilly is writing a book for school-age children and creating slide show presentations to educate them about the disorder. Using the material she has developed, she speaks to classroom groups in her school hoping that her efforts will make her audiences want to share the knowledge with others.

"The thing about Lilly is that she goes about her work so quietly," said Lakewood Elementary principal Nancy Layton. "She is a modest leader, but her classmates are in awe of her and how she inspires them to get involved."

Lilly's mother, Courtney Hallock, is thankful that Blue Valley teachers have really worked to facilitate Lilly's interests and gifts.

"Mrs. Mura did a special thing when she took the time nominate Lilly," said Hallock. "It shows that she truly understands how much it means to Lilly when she can help someone. She has given Lilly what she needs to follow her passions." 

Lilly and her family members are thrilled with the Nicholas Green honor. Hallock said that while Lilly doesn't look for recognition, the award will motivate her daughter to do even more. 

So what does Lilly say about it all? 

"My family is really blessed," she said. "We don't have trouble. I think it is better to keep giving so that other people can feel the way we feel. It gives me joy to help others and see someone who might have been crying feel better."

On Sunday, May 23, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, delivered the commencement address to the Blue Valley Northwest High School Class of 2010.

Blue Valley Northwest (BVNW) received this honor for their extraordinary achievement and outstanding effort in the first annual Race to the Top Commencement Challenge sponsored by the White House and the U.S. Department of Education.

The Commencement Challenge offered public high schools around the country a chance to show how they are challenging their students to excel in academics, take personal responsibility for their education, and graduate high school ready for college and career. More than one thousand schools submitted applications. BVNW was named as one of six finalists in the contest.

Click here to read the speech Secretary Gates' delivered at the May 23 graduation ceremony. Additionally, the BVNW commencement is currently a featured story at www.defense.gov.

Blue Valley students recently participated in the National Mathcounts Competition. The Kansas team earned 11th place out of 56 teams. The team consisted of Shyam Narayanan of Lakewood Middle School, Michael Zhou of Overland Trail Middle School and Jack Chen of Oxford Middle School, all in Blue Valley. Josh Greene from Topeka Collegiate was also on the team. The team was coached by Teri Adams from Lakewood Middle School.

Shyam Narayanan of Lakewood Middle won second place in the written competition, out of 224 competitors. The top 12 individuals then competed in the Countdown Round where Shyam also won second place. 

Pictured is Kansas Mathcounts team coach Teri Adams and Shyam Narayanan.

Elliott Armstrong loves to read. He loves mystery books and action stories. He loves escaping into books. But much like the plot of a novel, Elliott's journey through school has been quite a story. In the beginning, he struggled with reading, scoring low on assessment testing. He wanted to do better. He wanted to be at the same level as his peers.

At Mission Trail Elementary, Leawood Middle and at Blue Valley North, his teachers worked with him on his reading. In middle school and the beginning of high school, he took part in Read 180, a comprehensive literacy intervention program geared toward helping students gain the skills they need to succeed in reading. Read 180 is designed to be tailored to meet individual students' needs. A student uses the Read 180 program until they reach a certain level of understanding and test out of the program. When Elliott came into Ken Taylor's classroom as a freshman, he was testing in the 33rd percentile. Taylor is a Communication Arts and Read 180 instructor.

"Classes were really challenging for me," Elliott said. "I really enjoyed reading, but I wanted to do better."

He put in hours of work at school with Taylor and at home with his mom. He read any chance he could get. At one time the idea of reading a 300-page book seemed impossible. One year later, everything changed.

"Something clicked in him and he gained confidence," said his mother Gina Kraus. "He thought, 'I can do this and I am doing this.'"

A combination of believing in himself and putting to good use the skills he gained in Read 180 paid off. By the first semester of his sophomore year, Elliott tested in the 86th percentile in reading. He was finally at the same level as his peers. From then on, his love of reading exploded. Soon reading a 300-page book was nothing. His confidence grew and he blossomed at school.

"There was this moment when he figured out that he could do it. Once he figured that out, he skyrocketed," Taylor said. "To see a student achieve such great success was very rewarding. It's students like Elliott that remind me of the reason I got into teaching in the first place."

Elliott is thrilled with his success and is excited for the future.

"Now that I'm a better reader, a lot more doors are open for me here," he said. "Before I couldn't imagine taking honors or AP courses, now I'm considering it."

Elliott's mom is grateful to all of the teachers and staff members who helped her son. She is excited for his future and hopes that he takes his love of reading with him wherever he goes.

"It's all the teachers at Mission Trail Elementary, Leawood Middle and Blue Valley North. Without all of those teachers, Elliott wouldn't be where he is today," Kraus said. "I also want Mr. Taylor to know how much I appreciate him helping. It was his approach that made Elliott want to learn more and more than more."

Blue Valley Northwest (BVNW) was named one of six finalists in the first annual Race to the Top Commencement Challenge sponsored by the White House and the U.S. Department of Education. Schools from across the country competed for a visit from President Obama who will deliver the commencement address for the winning school’s graduating class.

While BNVW did not win the contest, students did an outstanding job representing their school and the Blue Valley School District nationally as a place where students receive an Education Beyond Expectations. They accomplished something special by advancing to the top six. Congratulations Blue Valley Northwest, on a job well done.

The Blue Valley North Metal Mustang Robotics team recently won the regional FIRST robotics competition. Fifty-six teams from Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Missouri competed in Oklahoma City.  Blue Valley North now advances to the National FIRST competition to be held in Atlanta on April 15-17. FIRST is an international organization whose mission is to inspire young people to become science and technology leaders.

Below are links to two Blue Valley budget documents. The first document is a list of potential budget cuts that were released by the district on March 8. The second document is a list of budget reductions, reallocations and revenue enhancements that were approved by the Board of Education at their April 5 meeting.

Potential budget cuts

Approved budget reductions, reallocations and revenue enhancements