Shalley Boles, left, Upneet Kaur, Jean Ann Collins, and Upkar Kaur are joined by twins’ mom, Bhupinder Kaur. Courtesy photo

Over the last few weeks, 10 special teachers received a special invitation.

As the school year begins to wrap up, the high school has started to celebrate some of its students, including the Class of 2025’s Top 10 in academics. 

In an event that honors both their hard work and some of the teachers who helped them along the way, the 10 students and their chosen teachers enjoyed a luncheon together April 29. 

The Top 10 luncheon started in 2018 and has become a tradition over the years. Each student can invite their parents and a teacher of their choice to the event.

“To be in the Top 10 is a huge feat,” PHS Assistant Principal Veronica Robinson said. “It takes balance, it takes focus. It’s not just about intelligence, but it takes perseverance and resilience. To say I’m going to stay focused, I’m going to balance life and do what I need to do to be the best version of me and be recognized as a scholar.”

Once class ranks were finalized at the end of March, Robinson sent out invitations to the Top 10 instructing them to ask their most influential teachers from grades K-12 to join them. 

For some, like valedictorian Tyler Phillips who invited his debate coach, it was an easy choice.

 “I chose Ms. (Heather) Stringer because she embodies kindness and compassion for all of her students and made my transition to Princeton much easier for me,” Tyler said. “Anyone I’ve met has shared this love for Ms. Stringer and can attest to her dedication to her job.”

In addition to debate, the Top 10 represented a variety of extracurricular activities including, theater, athletics, FFA and journalism. Twin sisters, Upneet and Upkar Kaur who are involved in FFA and journalism, were able to invite both of their extracurricular coaches, journalism teacher Jean Ann Collins and floral design teacher Shalley Boles. 

“It would’ve been near impossible choosing between the two, but you know us, we always have to do things together, so we get to have them both,” Upkar said. “Mrs. Collins is an amazing human, and she has helped me feel better about my writing and myself. I couldn’t thank her enough for helping me become who I am.”

Collins, who is also the district’s communications coordinator, said she loves to cover the luncheon each year and watch how the students change over the years. She said she is always curious what the teachers who’ve been chosen multiple times over the years do in their classroom to make it so special. This year, she got to share in that experience.

“You can’t convince me public education is failing, especially not after I had the privilege of attending the Top 10 luncheon with some of the best kids ever,” Collins said. “I’ve had the pleasure of teaching three of these for the last three years, and they are all All-State journalism students, some of them the best in my 26 years as a teacher. Being chosen as the twins’ [designated] teacher was an honor.”

Robinson, who organized the luncheon, kicked off the celebration with a brief speech to acknowledge the students’ academic dedication. Then with the help of the counselors, she presented students with small gift baskets, including Dunkin’ gift cards and candy. 

“I enjoyed planning the luncheon because to me, Top 10 — that is so huge,” Robinson said. “I wanted something that is special and unique to them to say, ‘We recognize you and honor you.’ Not to say that none of the other students did well, but to be the Top 10 out of a class of 620 is huge, and I was just getting joy from being able to celebrate in the moment with them.”

The luncheon took place in the high school’s library where the culinary program provided chicken parmesan and refreshments, such as snickerdoodle cookies and lemonade. Once everyone cleaned their plates, the students and their families got to catch up with their chosen teachers over the next hour, reflecting on the past and looking forward to upcoming plans. 

“It was comforting getting to talk to Ms. (Khara) Barnard again after so long,” Kingston Williams said. “I invited her not just because she’s an amazing teacher, but because back in eighth grade we were all immature middle schoolers, but by the time we left, we had learned how to have respectful conversations with others and be responsible. She helped us transition from teenagers to young men.”

In order from 1 to 10, the Top 10 and the teacher they invited: Tyler Phillips, debate coach Heather Stringer; Isabella Vance, English IV teacher Katie Filina; Kate Read, eighth grade science teacher Dina D’Onofrio; Sean McCarthy, cross country/track coach Bradley Patterson; Rida Nabiha, seventh grade science teacher Laney Ballesteros; Luke Phillips, soccer coach Kent Ackmann; Kingston Williams, eighth grade history teacher Khara Barnard; Upneet Kaur, floral design teacher Shalley Boles; Upkar Kaur, UIL journalism coach Jean Ann Collins and Jadyn Walton, softball coach Ellis Woodruff.

Kate Read is in the PHS advanced journalism class.

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