Spring Valley Seniors Named Candidates for U.S. Presidential Scholars Program
Sanvi Divekar, Jackson Dowey, Shrihan Ganesh Babu, Abagail Greer, Jisso Lee, Iraine Taine and Ryan Young have been selected as a candidates for the 2024 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program, one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students.
Candidates will learn in mid-April if they are among the 800 students who will be named semifinalists. In early May, the U.S. Presidential Scholars will be announced, and winners will be honored in Washington, D.C. Application to the program is by invitation only. Students are selected based on broad academic achievement; academic and artistic scholarship in the visual arts, the performing arts or creative writing; or outstanding scholarship and accomplishment in career and technical education fields.
These students are among more than 100 candidates in South Carolina and thousands nationally competing in the program. The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964, by executive order of the President, to recognize and honor some of our nation’s most distinguished graduating high school seniors. Last year, Cathy C. Tang of Spring Valley High School was named a 2023 U.S. Presidential Scholar.
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 8 NATIONAL MERIT FINALISTS
Spring Valley High School seniors Sanvi Divekar, Jackson Dowey, Shrihan Ganesh Babu, Abagail Greer, Emma Hook, Jisoo Lee, Ava Phelps, and Iraine Taine are among the approximately 15,000 finalists announced by NMSC. These academically talented high school students move on to compete for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth about $32 million that will be offered next spring. We are delighted to have the opportunity to congratulate these outstanding students and celebrate their advancement as Finalists.
Types of Merit Scholarship® Awards
Beginning in March and continuing to mid-June, NMSC notifies approximately 7,500 Finalists at their home addresses that they have been selected to receive a Merit Scholarship® award. Merit Scholarship awards are of three types:
- National Merit® $2500 Scholarships
Every Finalist competes for these single payment scholarships, which are awarded on a state representational basis. Winners are selected without consideration of family financial circumstances, college choice, or major and career plans. - Corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards
Corporate sponsors designate their awards for children of their employees or members, for residents of a community where a company has operations, or for Finalists with career plans the sponsor wishes to encourage. These scholarships may either be renewable for four years of undergraduate study or one-time awards. - College-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards
Officials of each sponsor college select winners of their awards from Finalists who have been accepted for admission and have informed NMSC by the published deadlines that the sponsor college or university is their first choice. These awards are renewable for up to four years of undergraduate study. The published deadlines for reporting a sponsor college as first choice can be viewed on page 3 of the Requirements and Instructions for Semifinalists in the 2018 National Merit®Scholarship Program. (Adobe Acrobat Reader is required.)
Merit Scholarship awards are supported by some 420 independent sponsors and by NMSC’s own funds. Sponsor organizations include corporations and businesses, company foundations, professional associations, and colleges and universities.NMSC, a non-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 420 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.
Viking Teacher & Classified Employee of the Month of February
Spring Valley “Teacher of the Month” program is designed to recognize teachers who are making a profound and positive difference in the lives of our students. Each month during the school year Spring Valley students, teachers, parents, and staff are given a chance to vote for a teacher and explain how that teacher has made an impact on them. Congratulations to the “Teacher of the Month” for February Ms. Quishana Barnes and Ms. Kim Bouchey.
Spring Valley “Classified Employee of the Month” program is designed to recognize a classified employee who has gone beyond the call of duty. The teachers and staff voted and the winner for February Mrs. Angela Thibou and Mrs. Valerie Wright.
Congratulations to our SVHS Swim State Champions
Patrick Quirk, STATE CHAMPION in the 100 Backstroke, 5A SCHSL Swim State Meet
-Boys 200 Freestyle Relay Team State Champions, 5A SCHSL Swim State Meet
– Andrew May
– Patrick Quirk
– JoJo Frye
– Sammy Urs
Hearts Day at the Valley
Hearts Day at Spring Valley is a long standing tradition. Every staff member and student has a labeled heart placed on the wall the evening before Valentine’s Day. When everyone arrives at school on Valentine’s Day, they walk into a school covered with hearts. The idea is for students to walk around during the week to write nice messages on their friends’ hearts. At the end of the week, students are encouraged to take their hearts home. The hearts are cut and labeled by STUCO.
The Shahani Family Scholarship NOW OPEN
The application window for The Shahani Family Scholarship is now open. Applications are due on Feb. 26th.
Spring Valley High School seniors may apply at:
https://docs.google.com/…/1UN6WIOJhKzuPWvNuE…/edit
Shahani Family Scholarship- $5000, multiple recipients
This scholarship is given to honor and celebrate the formative impact that Spring Valley High School had on the academic success of Dr. Ashwin Shahani. Dr. Shahani is a
2008 graduate of the Spring Valley High School Discovery program and is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan.
Recipients must have a GPA of 3.5 and should demonstrate that they could benefit financially from the scholarship. Applicants should submit their resume and an essay of 2000 words or less.
In the essay, the applicant should describe their career ambitions and their outreach and leadership activities.
PROM TICKET SALES
Flash Sale Weeks for Prom Tickets will be February 12th- 23rd. The tickets will be $30 each for these two weeks only, and then the price goes up to $50 . Tickets will be on sale Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in the Atrium at Lunch. All fees must be paid in order to get a prom ticket! More Details about prom can be found on the Prom Info Sheet: https://bit.ly/SVHSProm24.
JROTC Community Service
Spring Valley JROTC joined Westwood, RidgeView, Blythewood JROTC units for our 2nd annual Joint District Community Service Project, Saturday morning at the Spring Valley Commons. The cadets joined Spring Valley Baptist Church as they partnered with local non-profit Harvest Pack. Cadets were joined by Richland School District Two Board President Lindsay Agostini and Superintendent Dr Kim Moore for a day of packing meals to be distributed in the Northeast. Cadets and church volunteers manned 24 assembly lines and prepared 70,000 meals on Saturday. It was a fun day of merging generations, cultures, and different military backgrounds in order to do something worthwhile for the community. Spring Valley JROTC cadets helped with the setup of the event Friday afternoon, and were vital to the flow of the operation throughout the morning.
NHS Faculty Talent Show
Tickets can be purchased through any National Honor Society Member or through Mrs. Thomas in room C138. All proceeds will go to Arts Access SC, a nonprofit organization that provides children, youth and adults with disabilities quality arts experiences.
VIKING CHALLENGE BOARD
Palmetto Girls State
APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN!
ALA PGS is a weeklong summer program designed to immerse you in a real, functioning
government, in the mythical State of Palmetto. You’ll meet lots of new friends from across the state, and you may even be eligible for some college scholarships! Be sure to stop by Student Activities (C127), the School Counseling office or the Main Office for your application. Applications are due Thursday, February 22nd.
Click on the link below for additional information and the 2024 application.
Palmetto Girls State Information and Application
VIKING TEACHER/STAFF OF THE MONTH
Who is your favorite Teacher & Support Staff Employee of The Month? Please take a moment to fill out the March nomination form that was emailed to students and parents. We are voting for your favorite Social Studies and Science Teacher and Support Staff (Attendance, Health Room and SPED TAs). Voting will end on February 23rd at 4:00 pm. The winner for each month will be selected and announced at the designated time. Please note that your nomination letter will be shared with the teacher and classified employee selected.
SAVE THE DATE: SVEF ANNUAL AUCTION
SVHS Free Pageant Coaching Seminars
“Miss Spring Valley is beyond excited to offer pageant seminars for anyone at SVHS that is interested in pageants or competing next season! Each seminar will focus on new skills and sections of the pageant to help provide free training to all those interested. We hope to see you soon!”
R2i2 Hackathon 2024
R2i2’s fourth annual Hackathon is on the horizon! Sign up and come down to R2i2 for a chance to tackle challenging problems in your school and community with elegant, immediate, and compelling solutions! See the flyer attached below for more information and come get a permission form from Mrs. Zweimiller (D204) – permission forms due by February 15th!
Green & Gold Literary Magazine
The Green & Gold Literary Magazine is back and accepting art, poetry, and stories for its Spring edition! Submissions are now open and close on March 15. Here’s the link: https://bit.ly/TGGLitMag.
The Caroliance Youth Poetry Festival is a two-day convergence of middle
and high school students from North and South Carolina, focused on
celebrating the power of their voices through poetry and creativity.
Students representing those with casual interests in poetry to seasoned
spoken word performers are all invited. Click here for the Information Packet and to Register.
VIKING SPORTS SCHEDULES
Women’s Soccer
Men’s Soccer Schedule
Baseball Schedule
Girls Track & Field
