Paris Independent School District

Twenty-one Paris High School students have earned national recognition from the first-ever PreACT Rising Stars program. Developed by ACT, the new initiative honors outstanding academic achievement among students who take the PreACT 8/9 assessment and encourages all students to strive for excellence early in their college and career readiness journey.

The 2024–2025 awards recognize students who completed the PreACT 8/9 assessment during Round 2 (April 1–May 31, 2025) and ranked nationally among all test takers across the country.

ACT recognizes PreACT Rising Stars at three levels:
•    Distinguished Scholars Award – Top 5% of test takers
•    Rising Scholars Award – Next 10% of test takers
•    Early Scholars Award – Next 35% of test takers

At Paris High School:
•    2 students earned the Distinguished Scholars Award (Brandon Dao and Karina Leon)
•    5 students earned the Rising Scholars Award (Grey Gillem, Audrey Hinkle, Aniya Maddox, Xavier Rios, and Brookelyn Thompson)
•    14 students earned the Early Scholars Award (Santiago Barragan, Eden Evans, Emilio Garcia, Marielena Higuera Rios, Autra Lawrence, Halsey Mattoon, James Mitchell, Lydia Montesdeoca, Lillian Newberry, Naomi Omori, Heenal Patel, Philip Reyes, Saniya Rose, and Jackson Threadgill)

Distinguished Scholars received a gold medal and certificate, Rising Scholars received a silver medal and certificate, and Early Scholars received a certificate of achievement.

For more information about the PreACT Rising Stars program, visit act.org/rising-stars-awards. To learn more about PreACT assessments, visit act.org/preact.

About ACT  
ACT is transforming college and career readiness pathways so that everyone can discover and fulfill their potential. Grounded in more than 65 years of research, ACT’s learning resources, assessments, research, and work-ready credentials are trusted by students, job seekers, educators, schools, government agencies, and employers in the U.S. and around the world to help people achieve their education and career goals at every stage of life. Visit us at www.act.org.