During Tuesday’s Tullahoma City School Board meeting, the district honored three students, Joaquin Tenaglia Canut, Annsley Vaughn and Amy Pham, for their recent accomplishments.
For the second consecutive year, Joaquin has been recognized by the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) as one of the “brightest young students” globally. Joaquin, an eighth-grader at East Middle School, received this honor for his exceptional performance on the SAT, ACT or a similar assessment taken in part of this year’s CTY talent search. CTY uses above-grade-level testing to identify advanced students worldwide and proves a clear picture of their true academic abilities.
“This year, Joaquin was one of nearly 19,000 students from 84 countries who were part of this 2020-2021 talent search. Less than 20 percent of the students qualified for this high honor,” said TCS Director of Schools, Dr. Catherine Stephens. “We are proud of Joaquin and his amazing academic talents and are thrilled to celebrate him tonight.”
Another celebration focused on one of the oldest scholarship programs for high school juniors in the nation. Founded in 1958, the Distinguished Young Women Program is committed to empowering young women by connecting them with a nationwide network of women, developing their self-confidence, and having these women participate in a Life Skills workshop. Each year, Tullahoma High School juniors represent our city and state in the categories of academics, interview, public speaking, talent and fitness.
Tullahoma saw two participants excel in the competition, including Amy Pham, who was crowned the 2022 Distinguished Young Woman of Tennessee. Before receiving that state-level honor, Amy had been named the 2022 Cumberland Valley Distinguished Young Woman of the year.
“Amy came home from the state competition with the state title and over $110,000 in scholarships to attend the University of Alabama. She will go on to compete for the national title in Mobile, Alabama, in June 2022,” Dr. Stephens said. “We are so proud of Amy and will be watching next summer as she competes for the nationwide title of Distinguished Young Woman.”
Annsely Vaughn was also recognized Tuesday for her accomplishments for her performance in the Distinguished Young Women Program. This past spring, Annsely was named the 2022 Tullahoma Distinguished Young Woman of Tullahoma. In addition to this honor, she also competed at the state level and received scholarships in both the fitness and talent competitions.
“We are so pleased to have Annsley with us tonight to celebrate her achievements and acknowledge her successful outcome as well,” Dr. Stephens said. “Tullahoma was represented by two outstanding young women and we are so proud of them.”
Photo: Tullahoma City Schools honored three students during its Aug. 17 Board of Education meeting. Left photo: Joaquin Tengalia poses with TCS Board of Education Chairman Kim Uselton and TCS Director of Schools, Dr. Catherine Stephens. Right: Annsley Vaughn and Amy Pham were both recognized during the TCS Board of Education meeting.
