The Board of Education highlighted a number of recent district student achievements on April 18 during the Celebration of Excellence portion of its meeting.

All of the Newtown students who participated in the Connecticut Music Educators Association All-State Music Festival, held at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford March 29 to April 1, were named, honored, and given certificates by the school board.

Elementary Honors Chorus members who attended the festival were Ava Baroody, Shelby Jones, Alexandra Knaggs, and Molly Zatlukal.

Elementary Honors Orchestra students who attended the festival were Andrew Sposato, Joseph Stoerzinger, Jack Sullivan, and Nicholas Tetreault.

High School Honors Ensembles students who attended the festival were Bryce Doherty, Kevin Gong, Talia Hankin, Brian Ingerweson, and Charles Romano.

Newtown Director of Visual and Performing Arts Michelle Hiscavich said the annual festival "brings together the finest students from the state of Connecticut to make music."

"This year Newtown had 13 of his finest musicians participate at the elementary and high school level," Ms Hiscavich added.

The school board also recognized Newtown High School senior Rachel D'Ausilio for earning the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) Aspirations in Computing Student Award and NHS computer science teacher Kristin Violette for earning honorable mention for the NCWIT Aspirations in Computer Educator award.

"Rachel is, quite frankly, quite awesome," said Ms Violette, who added that Rachel has been in her classes for all four years of her high school education. "Her interest and passion for technology is outstanding."