IWA Middle Level Students Honored as State-Recognized Duke University Scholars

Seventh grade students at Incarnate Word Academy Middle Level left quite a mark on the 2011-2012 school year with an amazing 39 students qualifying to participate in the Duke University Talent Identification Program (TIP).  Of those students who qualified, 37 students chose to take the ACT or SAT for TIP evaluation.  After evaluation, fifteen Angels were named as state recognized Duke University Scholars— Aaron Benavides, Marykathryn Charles, Joseph Cook, Nicole Flanigan, Ricardo Flores, Abigail Garcia, Noah Garcia, Danielle Harrel, Stephen Parlamas, Julio Ramos, Victoria Rangel, Michael Rock, Shelby Saenz, Ian Simmons,  and Bradley Thering.   Shelby Saenz earned the exceptional distinction of Grand Recognition for her ACT score which ranked in the ninetieth percentile.  

Qualifying as a state-recognized scholar is quite a notable achievement.  This year in the state of Texas there were 22,283 who qualified to participate in the Duke TIP program.  Of that number, only 5,546 students’ test scores earned state recognition. 

Eight of the state-qualifying Angels traveled to Trinity University in San Antonio for the Texas State TIP Recognition Ceremony.  Students were commended at the ceremony for their outstanding test performance and presented with the prestigious Duke Scholar medallion.   Shelby Saenz earned an additional medallion as a Grand Recognized Scholar. 

The Duke University TIP, founded in 1980, identifies academically gifted students to provide them with innovative programming to support their development. For seventh grade students to qualify to participate in the program, they must first score in the 95% or higher in their schools’ standardized testing. Students who meet that criterion are invited to take the SAT or ACT. Those test scores are then evaluated based on the national percentile rankings (NPR) for juniors and seniors taking the SAT and ACT.   Seventh grade students that test in the fiftieth percentile receive Duke University State Recognition.