2021 PCIS Program

Prosper Independent School District

proudly presents

Prosper Career Independent Study Final Presentation Night

May 12, 2021

Mission Statement The mission of the Prosper Career Independent Study (PCIS) program is to provide advanced academic students an opportunity to conduct a self-directed, in-depth study of a topic of their choice while gaining real-world experience under the tutelage of a mentor in the community.

The program provides an environment that allows PCIS students to explore future career interests, to develop a professional product, and to serve their community.

Our Sincere Appreciation To Prosper ISD for supporting the PCIS program.

The staff of Prosper High School and Rock Hill High School for being flexible with our PCIS students as they have traveled to work with their mentors.

Prosper ISD Communications Department especially Christal Hankey, Director of Communications, and Tieler Seirer, Communications Specialist, for creating our program.

Prosper ISD Technology Department for their support of our Final Presentation Night.

The Prosper community for giving their time and expertise towards helping our students explore their future career fields.

The families of our PCIS students for their support.

Barbara Hirsch, Advanced Academics Administrative Assistant, for being instrumental in organizing events and for her attention to every detail.

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Welcome in Cafeteria ...........................................................................................................................................6:00 PM Seth Rutledge, Director of Advanced Academics Tiffany Ballard and Coshari Chacchia, PCIS Teachers Student Final Presentations in Classrooms......................................................................................6:15 PM

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Seth Rutledge

FACILITATOR

Tiff any Ballard

FACILITATOR

Coshari Chacchia

The Prosper Career Independent Study (PCIS) Final Presentation Night is a culmination of many hours of planning, dedication, and hard work. I want to thank PISD Superintendent Dr. Holly Ferguson, Deputy Superintendent Dr. Greg Bradley, and the Board of Trustees for their continued support of the PCIS Program.

Their belief in the power of innovation and the importance of student agency makes a course like PCIS possible. I would also like to thank Dr. John Burdett, Principal of Prosper High School, and Mr. Dustin Toth, Principal of

As I finish up my third year as advisor for the Prosper Career Independent Study program at PHS, I find myself just as awestruck from this program as I was after first being introduced in 2018. PCIS is a year-long mentorlead Independent Study class for PISD juniors and seniors looking to identify and develop their own unique career path. My role is truly as an advisor, rather than teacher, because in this program, it is the students who dictate their own path. I have been fortunate enough to help them along the way with their beginning steps into

After completing my first year in the Prosper Career Independent Study (PCIS) program, I can say that this has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my teaching career. My seventeen years of teaching, coaching, and working in the hospitality and television media industries have all prepared me to work with these amazing students and help them navigate this program which allows them to soar to new heights.

This year students have learned how to network, make

Rock Hill High School and their administrative teams for their support and belief in this opportunity for their students.

Under the leadership of PCIS teachers Tiffany Ballard and Coshari Chacchia, the program continued to grow and thrive this year. Mrs. Ballard’s and Mrs. Chacchia’s ability to foster an environment where students are inspired to pursue their passions is an integral reason for PCIS’s continued success. I know that these two leaders will continue to grow the program and offer amazing opportunities for our students.

the professional world, but they have been the ones who have researched, organized, and designed their own products and, most importantly, made their own professional contacts.

Our program owes a huge THANK YOU to Seth Rutledge, Director of Advanced Academics. As we now serve over 75 kids on two different campuses, Mr. Rutledge, along with Barbara Hirsch, has spent countless hours facilitating, organizing, planning, and executing events; he has cleared the way for this program to flourish, all the while in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. He has truly been a leader; not only do the students look up to him, but I do as well. We owe our deepest gratitude to

professional contacts, improve their communication skills, master professionalism, and have fun while learning. My role as a facilitator has simply been to guide my students’ focuses, to build their confidence in themselves, and to be their biggest cheerleader.

This year’s PCIS students have inspired me in ways that have reignited my love for teaching, and I owe each of them a great deal of gratitude for the hard work that they have contributed to our program. Additionally, I would like to thank each of their mentors who have poured countless hours of themselves into our students. Finally, I would not

A special thank you to each of our PCIS mentors for giving of their time, expertise, and passion for their chosen field. The PCIS course could not happen without your commitment to our students and the PCIS program. Your willingness to mentor these students will continue to impact them far after graduation. Finally, thank you to the students.

Your dedication and willingness to embrace the unfamiliar is an inspiration of us all. You have each done a remarkable job on your research and projects. I cannot wait to see what you are able to accomplish in the coming years.

Seth Rutledge, without whom none of this would be possible.

Finally, this program only works when our students dig deep and find the perfect mentor. This year we are so lucky to have amazing mentors working with our students. Despite what the pandemic did to them personally and/or professionally, they have devoted their time and energy to providing our students with invaluable information with the utmost professionalism and compassion. We could not be more thankful for what you have done this past year.

have been able to help our students flourish without the leadership of Seth Rutledge, the guidance of Tiffany Ballard, and the support of Barbara Hirsch, Dustin Toth, and the Rock Hill High School administrative team. In spite of the many challenges that this year brought with it, we all adapted and overcame those obstacles, and our students have been the ones who have benefitted.

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The multi-disciplinary option is for a student whose research topic and final product overlaps multiple fields.

In order to qualify for this option, the following criteria must be met: The topic requires knowledge and skills that can only be gained by delving extensively into multiple career

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PCIS Multi-Disciplinary Option

fields.

Both the topic and final product must be clearly articulated and have a strong correlation to multiple career fields.

Finding a single mentor that could guide the student through the process would be difficult.

The needs of the student can best be met by interaction with multiple representatives from different

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career fields.

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Erika Adeji Erika Adjei is a senior at Prosper High School.

She began her journey in the Prosper Career and Independent Studies program her senior year, and has spent her time studying International Policy studies and American Politics. During her time in PCIS, Erika has learned about the intersection between media integrity and political misinformation, as well as the underlying implications this phenomena has had on developing democracies around the world. Following the completion of her high school career, Erika plans to earn a degree in Public Policy Analysis, Political Science or International Relations on the pre-law track in order to address systemic injustice in America and across the globe.

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Abigail Aguwa is currently a student at Prosper High School. She is involved in an educational equality internship program, various art design projects, and advanced academic pursuits.

Through PCIS, in her senior year of high school she decided to pursue education in order to form educated opinions of the field, and understand the intricacies of the school system. With this insight, she plans to refine the system and propose a design that betters traditional academic environments.

Her passion for reform will carry her into a college concentration of urban studies or educational policy, potentially pursuing a pre-law track. In accompaniment to education reform, she also plans to own her own business, and pursue digital design, music, and other forms of artistry. She also plans to learn under multiple other professionals so that she can create a documentary that showcases the development, trials, and implementation of this proposed classroom model.

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Abigail Aguwa

Morgan Begley Morgan has been exploring public health and policy in her senior year of Prosper Career Independent Study. She studied graphic design and marketing her junior year, and has used that experience to help her combine her passions this year by working with Children’s Health to advertise sponsored programs offered through Prosper ISD. She had many unique interviews through PCIS, and her knowledge about the public health sector at the state government level as well as through private organizations has grown significantly.

Morgan has a passion for nonprofits and service revolving around public health, and plans to use that passion and her experiences in PCIS as she pursues a degree in Public Health Administration when she attends university in the fall.

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Austin Garner is a senior at Prosper High School.

He is involved in and leads a great deal of STEM activities at Prosper High School including the UIL Mathematics Team, UIL Calculator Applications Team, and the Calculus Bowl Team. Along with this, he is ranked the salutatorian of his graduating class. Apart from academics, Austin has a passion for social justice, particularly, LGBT+ activism. He hopes to work with various institutions to combat homophobia and increase LGBT+ sensitivity.

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Austin Garner

Emmanuella Iwuji Emmanuella Iwuji is a senior at Prosper High School and an aspiring physician. As an African American youth, being an active member of society is the center of her passion. Emmanuella has a passion and natural curiosity in both finding and implementing ways to help people. Her fascination for the brain and human behavior has led to her decision to pursue neurology as a life time occupation. As a neurologist she hopes to impact the life of people, both young and old, while implementing positivity and a growth mindset in all areas of her life.

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Jake Kieffer is a senior at Prosper High School, with this being his second year as a student in PCIS. This year he is studying business ownership, futhering his studies of private equity last year.

Jake is an accomplished student, being in the top ten percent of his class. He is also not new to business ownership. Over the past four years he started his own resale business selling highend sneakers and clothing. He plans to take this knowledge to further expand his business into new products, and hopefully to develop his own line of products as well. He plans to develop a series of logos for his brand, create a new website to showcase his work, as well as market his new ideas to the people through social media. By the end of this school year his plan is to have tangible products to be marketed and sold to the public.

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Jake Kieffer

Cole Kindiger Cole Kindiger has worked at Rick’s Kicks Martial Arts for nearly five years, and started at thirteen years old. His work in that field developed his teaching ability and capacity to work with children.

Beyond his part-time job, he is also a student at Prosper High School. He is currently the Executive President of Student Council, President of Policy Debate, and the President of National Honor Society, in addition to being a member of several Honor Societies including National Honor Society, Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica, Psi Alpha, and the National English Honor Society. Because of these leadership positions inside of student government, he has built his organizational skills and aptitude for group collaboration.

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Hardy Mountcastle is a student at Prosper High School involved in the PCIS program, with a focus on the fields of business and law. Through studying in PCIS, Hardy is seeking experiences to grow his connections in the field and learn about how corporate lawyers do their job. Additionally, Hardy plans to pursue a degree in business administration, and then a graduate degree in law, in order to pursue his dream career of a corporate lawyer for an automotive company.

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Hardy Mountcastle

Shaya Nadaf Shaya Nadaf is a senior at Rock Hill High School participating in the Prosper Career Independent Study program. Within the PCIS program, her goal is to make connections within the fashion business industry. Shaya wants to work with professionals within her chosen career path to learn more about the industry.

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Katie Pollard is a senior at Prosper High School and it is her second year in the PCIS program. The first year she studied alongside two mentors in the home interior design field. Tracy Niese, an independent designer who owns the company Leopard and Black Interiors in Celina, Texas. Lauren Macnak worked as a designer at IBB design located in Frisco, Texas. Under the guidance of her mentors, Katie learned the ins and outs of home interior design including, working with clients, mood boards, and more about the financial and logistical elements of interior design. She was able to create a mood board for a room and create a 3D layout of a room for a client. This year she is studying fashion design and plans to create a blog/website to help inform other students on design and different aspects of networking and the business world. She will attend the University of North Texas next fall and will major in business and minor in interior design.

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Katie Pollard

Sarah Purcell Sarah Purcell is a senior at Prosper High School and a second-year member of the PCIS program.

During her second year in PCIS she’s decided to focus on education reform at the high school level.

She is working with numerous school officials to improve the quality of education and student life at Prosper High School. She is determined to bring back creativity and free-thinking to the educational experience.

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Lillian Wilcox is a senior at Prosper High School and a first year student in the Prosper Career Independent Study program. She plans on becoming a part of the fashion industry, after studying fashion merchandising at the University of Missouri this fall. She has a great eye for personal styles, and is always willing to go shopping with someone. Lillian’s affinity for environmental matters drives her current project, on-campus thrift-store, Eagle Apparel. She is always willing and ready to take steps towards her dreams of travelling the world, making fashion sustainable, and spotting new trends for the world to wear.

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Lillian Wilcox

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Parker Lachowsky is a current resident doctor at TCOM hospital. His path is very interesting and unique. He went to A&M with the intention of becoming a doctor, but he ended up in medical sales after college. After working in medical sales for a few years he decided that he wanted to go back to medical school. He went back to medical school, the oldest in his class, but very determined.

He now works at a Dallas hospital and has agreed to be Kacey Ahrens’ mentor this year. He has wanted to be a doctor his whole life. He is very smart, determined, and organized. These are all reasons he makes a great mentor for anyone aspiring to go into the medical field.

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Parker Lachowsky

Kacey Ahrens Kacey Ahrens is a senior at Prosper High School.

She is pursuing a medical career, currently with the hopes to be a Physicians Assistant. This is her second year in PCIS, and for last year she studied and researched veterinarian medicine.

For her passion project last year she organized a small charity/donation angel tree for the animals of Mazie’s Mission. Last year, her end of the year project was a research study on the link between animal abuse and domestic abuse. She chose that specific topic, because it was a way to incorporate her second interest, psychology, with her first interest, animals. This year, her passion project was a research project on different case studies on mental illness.

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Madison Aldape is a senior at Prosper High School and a first year student within the prestigious PCIS program. Madison has decided to venture into the study of psychology. Mrs. Carrie Wigginton is her mentor. She is helping Madison define her passion by shadowing Mrs. Wiggington and how she works as a social worker. Madison will benefit tremendously under Mrs. Wiggington, due to Madison’s passion of becoming a special victim’s specialist within the FBI. Aspiring to major in psychology and minor in criminology, Madison sees a clear pathway for her passion and future career.

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Madison Aldape

Carrie Wiggington Mrs. Carrie Wiggington is a strong and professional counselor and social worker. Throughout her life, Mrs. Wiggington was a domestic violence counselor and advocate, a child protection worker, a targeted case manager, and an in-home therapist for children at risk for out of home placement. From these past experiences, Mrs. Wiggington was able to be prepared to deal with a wide array of issues pertaining to children facing depression, anxiety, grief, trauma and countless other disorders. With a great education from the University of Kentucky and certifications in social work, Mrs. Wiggington has begun to mentor Madison Aldape to guide her through the next phase of her life and help her apply her passion to the real world

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Matt is a native of Texas and holds a B.A. in International Studies from Miami University in Oxford, OH, and a M.A. in International Policy Studies from the Monterey Institute of International Studies in California. He is married and has two daughters, who he says give him the drive to fight child exploitation and human trafficking every day. He worked for the CIA as a Political Analyst, and with the US Department of State as a Political Officer, gaining the passion to help those in need.

After leaving the government, he wanted to be able to help the defenseless and he became someone to stand up for and fight against human trafficking, as a Senior Vice President for Rescue and Rehabilitation at Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.). He is actively involved in rescuing and ensuring rehabilitation for children trafficked, giving those in need a better world.

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Matt Osborne

Gabe Arredondo Gabe Arrendondo is a passionate High School Student enrolled in PCIS in order to better understand the career of protecting the country and the world. Gabe is interested in learning more about the career of federal law enforcement in aspects where others wouldn’t pay attention.

This year he has been working with former CIA agent, and Senior Vice President for Rescue and Rehabilitation at Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.), Matt Osborne, in a mentorship that will help him grow his network, creating multiple new opportunities in expanding a career in aiding to create a better world.

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Carson Bindert is a junior at Prosper High School.

This is his first year in PCIS and he plans to do the class his senior year as well. Through the PCIS program Carson found a passion for Sports Management and wants to continue to learn more about the Sports Management field. He has found a perfect mentor for him in Valerie Little because she has been all around the Sports Management industry and she is able to teach him valuable information in this area.

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Carson Bindert

Valerie Little After 15 years in Coaching and Administration in McKinney ISD, Valerie Little took over the Director of Athletics position in Prosper in March 2017.

Coach Little served as a basketball and track coach for nine years in McKinney ISD. She worked her way up the ranks becoming the Assistant Campus Coordinator, Title IX Coordinator and Assistant AD in 2010 before being named the Associate Director of Athletics in 2011 where she served until coming to lead the Prosper program in 2017. Since arriving in Prosper, Coach Little has been instrumental in the development and growth in multiple programs which helped the district earn the coveted UIL Lone Star Cup for the 2018-2019 school year.

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Jeffrey Anderson has a true passion for the law that was instilled in him at an early age by his father, who was also a family lawyer. Jeff is Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, demonstrating his ongoing commitment to excellence in this area of law.

Board Certification requires continuing education and involvement in the issues of family law. Jeff is committed to protecting his clients and their children during the battle of divorce, property division and custody disputes with the goal of them concluding the process better off than when they first walked in his door. He tenaciously represents his clients with honesty, integrity and empathy.

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Jeff rey Anderson

Haley Britton Haley Britton is a senior at Prosper High School.

She is currently taking the Prosper Career and Independent Study program, learning about what she might do in her future. Haley is very involved on the PHS varsity tennis team. She is also in the National Honor Society her junior and senior year of high school, maintaining her GPA. She also took part in the Interact Club her junior year which allowed her to do service work several times.

Haley is studying what the law field is like so she can see if she would like to take part in law in her future. She is also studying the business field. She is unsure what her college major will be in the future, but she is working on finding that out with the help of her mentor and PCIS teacher. Haley is so thankful to find a mentor, Jeffery Anderson, who is able to help her, even during the tough times right now.

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Madison Britton is a Senior at Prosper High School. She is a student in the Prosper Career and Independent Study, studying Psychological Therapy and Clinical Psychiatry. Through PCIS she has learned what it is like to be professional and act according to certain situations. She also learned how to create a professional resume and how to build a well-written email. Another thing she learned was how to create a career forecast and mission statement which will be very useful for her in her later life. Madison enjoys spending time with her friends and playing tennis in her free time. Her current job is at Panera Bread where she has worked for about 15 months. Madison is still undecided on where to go to college, but she will be majoring in business and minoring in psychology when she gets there. She is very excited to see where the next couple of years takes her.

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Madison Britton

Catherine Stephenson Catherine Stephenson is a mental health counselor with special experience with schoolbased counseling, play therapy, expressive arts, and bibliotherapy. She has a Master of Science in clinical mental health counseling from The University of Arkansas, and a Bachelor of Science in psychology with a double minor in sociology and gender studies from Texas A&M University.

She currently works at Prosper Counseling as a Licensed Professional Counselor associate supervised by Marcey Mettica.

Dr. Bellan is currently the orthodontist at Bodine Orthodontics. She is very experienced and has practiced dentistry for sixteen years. She got her bachelor’s degree at the University of Texas at Austin, her Doctor of Dental Medicine at the University of Louisville School of Dentistry, and her Master of Science at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. She has experience with several companies but now has her own practice in which she forms meaningful relationships with her many customers

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Rachel Bellan

Marisol Trautmann

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Dr. Marisol Trautmann is a DDS, MS, and a Prosthodontic Dental Specialist at Prosper Dental Health. She initially went to college at the University of Costa Rica, and got her degree in Prosthodontics at Ohio State University.

She has been practicing dentistry for twenty eight years and is extremely passionate about her career. She aims to develop candid and sincere relationships with her patients, to relieve them from pain, to change their smiles, and to improve their lives. Most of all, her intention is to guide patients in understanding their dental challenges and work with them to achieve oral health so they can ultimately feel proud of their teeth.

Will Bryan Will Bryan is a senior at Prosper High School with a strong desire to go into the field of dentistry.

He also has a passion for entrepreneurship and dealing with the stock market. He and his friends, Hardy Mountcastle and Jake Kieffer, started a clothing brand in which they hope to gain many customers through Instagram and TikTok. Will has also started his own business in which he washed cars and cleaned flower beds for people in his neighborhood. Will is a determined and hardworking student who hopes to continue his career after college as a dentist. As an entrepreneur, he hopes to start his own practice after gaining much experience. He learned much from his mentors, Dr. Bellan and Dr. Trautmann.

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Carsyn Clayton has been a part of the PCIS program for her senior year. Since she has been in PCIS she’s gained connections, met with professionals, and has began working on her passion project for special needs students. Her passion for special needs began as she joined the Best Buddies club at her school as the secretary and through a special needs PE class. Carsyn plans to pursue a degree in business on a pre-law path as she attends the University of Alabama. She is also very passionate for law as she has taken many law classes throughout her high school experiences and feels it is the career path in which she would be the most successful and happy. Through this program she has found her mentor, Jane Matthews, who she’s excited to work with to pursue her passion for law.

She is incredibly thankful for her mentor and the time she’s planning on spending on her future.

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Carsyn Clayton

Jane Matthews Jane Matthews is an attorney licensed in the states of Washington and Texas. In her current position, Mrs. Matthews handles contract matters and public information requests for the Prosper Independent School District. Throughout her law career, she has served in a number of roles, including civil litigator, adjunct professor, and assistant general counsel. Mrs. Matthews was drawn to the practice of law for the broad array of opportunities to serve others. She is proud to be among the legal professions who work to make a positive impact on their communities every day. Mrs. Matthews was born in Arizona, received her B.A. in California, and earned graduate degrees at Seattle University School of Law and the Georgetown University Law Center. She lives in Prosper with her husband, three children, and dog, Sebastian.

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Lee Dunlap, an experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the event services industry owns and operates Quest Events out of Frisco, TX. Not finishing his college education, Lee took his own route and is now an owner and/or operator of many different companies. He plays a significant role in Quest Events, Heritage Construction, Peachtree Tents & Events, Stryve Foods, and Red River Rolloffs.

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Lee Dunlap

Mandy Dunlap Mandy Dunlap is a senior at Prosper High School.

In the fall, she will be attending the University of Tennessee to study Business Marketing and Minoring in Communications. Throughout her High School career, Mandy has dedicated herself to not only her studies, but a part time job as well. With studying more about business in college, Mandy hopes to find an internship or job to help guide her down that path. The business world is something that has always interested Mandy, so following her passion in Sales is something she hopes to later pursue. With the help of her mentor, Mandy hopes to gain insight into the parts and specifics of business. Knowing these key components will not only help her succeed in her profession, but out in the real world when she gets there one day.

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Tyson English is a senior at Prosper High School.

He intends to attend a university to earn a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice and/or Political Science. He aspires to obtain a career in federal law enforcement as a canine handler or a tactical officer. Currently, Tyson is participating in a mentorship with local police officer, Barrett Morris, the head of his department’s special response team. Within the classroom, he participates in multiple advanced placement courses, as well as his school’s career independent study program.

Tyson exercises his leadership capabilities through the FFA where he holds the position of district Vice President. Tyson harbors an immense passion for justice, law, and order and is ecstatic to be pursuing this career path.

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Tyson English

Barrett Morris Barrett Morris currently holds the rank of Lieutenant at the Prosper police department. When he is not patrolling and ensuring the immediate safety of citizens within his jurisdiction, Morris is performing administrative oversight to guarantee the officers of Prosper Texas can carry out their mission of protecting and serving. In addition to these roles, Lieutenant Morris also leads his department’s Special Response Team (SRT), a team responsible for countering and defending against more evolved threats.

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Patrick Cicalese is a proven team leader with well established relationships in the medical sales and healthcare communities. His expertise includes strategic sales planning and new business development with the ability to identify and maximize hidden profitability opportunities. He has created and negotiated contracts with GPO, IDN, distributors, national HME/DME companies, alternate sites, long term care chains, and hospital systems. Along with that, Mr. Cicalese has extensive knowledge in WIC, Medicare, Medicaid and Managed Care reimbursement.

His experience includes developing sales and marketing strategies that emphasize total value versus cost. He has an outstanding track record of hiring, coaching, mentoring and inspiring his teams while producing consistent top performing, award winning results.

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Patrick Cicalese

Lucy Forbes Lucy Forbes is a junior at Prosper High School.

This is her first year in the Prosper Career and Independent Study program and she is studying medical sales. Growing up around her siblings and a parent having jobs in medical sales, she decided she wanted to learn more about the inner workings of it all. Her mentor, Patrick Cicalese, gave her opportunities to shadow many different representatives that work for Nutricia North America and even listen in on many webinars.

In the upcoming years, she plans to major in Business with a minor in Biomedical Engineering at a D1 college. Lucy is incredibly grateful for Mr. Cicalese and Mrs. Ballard for all of their support throughout the year.

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Mimi Forbes is a junior at Prosper High School. In the Prosper Career Independent Study program, she looked into Sports and Social Media Marketing to discover more about the field. For her semester project, she created a small business where she sold handmade earrings. She advertised her business through social media. However, for her end of the year project she worked closely with the baseball team and coaches to increase student involvement at the games. She used different marketing strategies to advertise the games. Her end goal is to work in the sports marketing field and hopefully for a professional team. She wants to major in supply chain or other business majors at a division one college.

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Mimi Forbes

Abby Feruck Abby Feruck is a very experienced sales executive based in New York City. She works for Okapi Al, a pioneering SaaS company that provides commercial real estate stakeholders with a dynamic, ongoing predictive lease risk solution.

Previously, she worked as an account executive for the Atlanta Falcons, and was responsible for selling high-end seating to customers and assuring their experience at the stadium would be flawless. In addition, she worked as an inside sales representative for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

She loved the fast-paced environment that the sports and entertainment industry had to offer.

She studied Science, but minored in sports management at the University of South Carolina.

Abby was a student athlete, social media student coordinator, and a student athlete marketing intern at the University of South Carolina.

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Patricia “Trish” Kimbler is a pediatric oncology nurse. She works at Cooks Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. She graduated from Pima Community College (Tucson, AZ) in 1998 with an ADN. She started out in adult and pediatric bone marrow transplant for 3 years, then became a travel nurse for 7 years. When she decided not to travel anymore, she was hired on permanently at Cook Children’s in pediatric oncology/hematology and bone marrow transplant where she has been for the past 13 years. She loves to help others and takes whatever she is doing very seriously, two amazing qualities in a pediatric health care worker.

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Patricia Kimbler

Kaitlyn Fuxa Kaitlyn Fuxa is a senior at Prosper High School. Within the PCIS program she initially was anticipating not finding a mentor with her exact specialty and wanted to study pediatric nursing as a whole. As she was going on interviews she was able to find a mentor who worked in her specific field, pediatric oncology nursing.

She has always been interested in the health science field and after taking a CNA class her junior year she decided for sure on nursing. Throughout the CNA course she was able to shadow at Baylor Scott and White hospital in McKinney where she was given the opportunity to rotate through the different units and departments in the hospital. She got to see a lot of what the health science field had to offer. Kaitlyn loves kids and has babysat for 5+ years, so pediatrics is the best fit for her. She plans to attend Texas A&M University majoring in Allied Health with hopes of getting into nursing school.

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Hope is a junior at Rock Hill High School. For Hope’s first year in the PCIS class, she chose to research the field of veterinary medicine. Deciding to gain as much experience as she can, Hope has been working at Prosper Trail Animal Hospital since March of 2020 as well as taking classes that pertain to her field, such as AP Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, and Small Animal Management/ Equine Science. She is studying under the mentorship of Dr. Christi Linley, a veterinarian at Prosper Trail Animal Hospital and plans to attend A&M University and pursue a career caring for exotic animals.

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Hope Goodman

Christi Linley Dr. Linley was born in Overland Park, Kansas, but was raised in Flower Mound, Texas. Inspired to become a veterinarian when her childhood best friend, a spunky cat named Snooper, passed away from feline leukemia virus, she attended Texas A&M University where she received her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science in 2006 and her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine in 2010. Carrying 11 years of experience with her, Dr Linley joined the Prosper Trail Animal Hosptial team back in 2013.

She has a special interest in internal medicine and oncology. When she isn’t singing and dancing around the clinic, Dr. Linley enjoys scrapbooking, horseback riding, and spending time with friends and family. She and her husband, Kevin, live in Prosper with their two girls, Victoria and Madelyn.

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Mark Howlett is a self-employed financial services advisor based out of Frisco, TX. He aims to make clients happy with their finances and bring them security for unexpected circumstances. Mr. Howlett began his career as a school administrator nearly 25 years ago. From there, he continued his passion for helping others in his Financial Services career. Over the next 14 years he served as a Partner and President for two financial firms.

From there, he began his current self-employed position. Mr. Howlett uses his learning experiences and certifications to assist his clients with making the best choices for their financial future.

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Mark Howlett

Meghan Gordon Meghan Gordon is a junior at Prosper High School.

She is a student in the Prosper Career Independent Study program (PCIS) studying personal finance for students. Through PCIS she has learned about the lack of information available to teens regarding budgeting and saving strategies. With the help of her mentor, she has dedicated her time to help create budgets for several high-school students to help them see benefits of saving. Meghan is incredibly thankful to her mentor, Mark Howlett, for the support in a non-traditional approach to finances and the amazing resources he has provided.

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Brooke Hallauer is a senior at Prosper High School and is currently enrolled in the Prosper Career and Independent Study program. She has been involved in tennis all four years of high school and the National Honor Society and the Interact Club for two years. The field of study she has chosen for PCIS is real estate. She is studying this in hopes of determining if it is what she wants to pursue after college. Through PCIS, she has learned about social networking and professionalism. With the help of her mentor, Sandy Roberts, she has learned about the education requirements and qualifications to become a real estate agent as well as what an agent does on a daily basis. Brooke is attending The University of Oklahoma and plans to major in Business and/or Marketing.

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Brooke Hallauer

Sandy Roberts Sandy Roberts has lived in Texas since 1995 and has called Frisco home for the past 19 years. After having a 28-year career in sales with the Procter & Gamble Company she retired and decided to pursue her passion of real estate and interior decorating. As a full time professional real estate agent, she prides herself on offering superior personal service. Knowledge, commitment, honesty, expertise and professionalism are the cornerstones of her business. Her skills include negotiation, communication, marketing and home staging. When not at work she enjoys spending time with her husband and 3 daughters. She also loves to work out, read, travel, do interior decorating and volunteering through the Frisco National Charity League.

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Dr. Marisol Trautmann is a DDS, MS, and a Prosthodontic Dental Specialist at Prosper Dental Health. She initially went to college at the University of Costa Rica, and got her degree in Prosthodontics at Ohio State University. She has been practicing dentistry for twenty eight years and is extremely passionate about her career. She aims to develop candid and sincere relationships with her patients, to relieve them from pain, to change their smiles, and to improve their lives. Most of all, her intention is to guide patients in understanding their dental challenges and work with them to achieve oral health so they can ultimately feel proud of their teeth.

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Marisol Trautmann

Lauren Hallauer Lauren Hallauer is a senior at Prosper High School.

Throughout high school, she has been involved in the Interact Club, the National Honor Society, and has been on the tennis team all four years. This year, she is in the Prosper Career Independent Study class (PCIS) and is focusing her studies on dentistry. Through PCIS, she has gotten the opportunity to shadow different positions at a dental office and a dental surgery office to learn more about the field. She plans on attending the University of Oklahoma to earn a degree in dentistry or dental hygiene. Lauren is incredibly thankful to her mentor, Marisol Trautmann, for the knowledge and insight she has passed on and for her support.

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Rebecca Henry is a senior at Rock Hill High School. She was accepted into the Prosper Career Independent Study program (PCIS) in 2020 and is currently researching the field of Clinical Psychology. She plans to pursue a doctoral degree in Psychology and go on to work in a psychiatric facility. She has an active mentorship with a practicing psychologist and regularly shadows her in the field. She spends her free time volunteering at an animal rescue shelter in her community. This, accompanied by her nine years of cheerleading experience, has taught her maturity and the value of hard work. She applies theses principles to her studies and plans on utilizing them when she attends college in the fall.

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Rebecca Henry

Ardis Lo Ardis Lo is a Licensed Professional Counselor.

She earned her Masters of Science degree in Counseling from Southern Methodist University with specialty training in Play Therapy, Activity Therapy, Child Parent Relationship Training, Group Therapy, and Geriatrics. Prior to counseling, Ardis dedicated eight years to the Court Appointed Special Advocates of Collin County. Ardis earned a Bachelor of Science in Speech Language Pathology from the University of Texas at Dallas with a focus on child development in 2002. Mrs. Lo has participated in programs similar to PCIS before and has been the mentor to many prospective psychologists.

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Dr. Myriam Ogoufe is Vice President of Policy Development and Research for the Dallas Housing Authority. She led the largest collaborative group in the country under an initiative for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, establishing a new planning process regarding distribution and allocation of funds for public housing efforts. In both her professional and personal life, she strives for justice and equity.

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Myriam Ogoufe

Ryan Hess Ryan Hess is a senior at Prosper High School, and is a second year student in the Prosper Career Independent Study course. In the last two years, she has studied religious extremism, cyclic incarceration, and housing inequality, all of which have a large impact on the DFW area. She is very grateful to her mentor for all her work.

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Cullen Hogan is a senior at Prosper High School.

This is his first year in the PCIS program, and he is studying the business side of sports as well as the scouting process and how it differs from sport to sport. In his initial studies, he wanted to understand ways that coaches and recruiters discovered players they could potentially want and their process for scouting them on a deeper level. Being an athlete himself, Cullen is hoping that broadening his knowledge in what coaches and recruiters could possibly be looking for in an athlete could help him move on to the next level in his sport, hockey. He also wanted to learn more about what goes into scouting opponents and how much coaches do it across different sports. In the future, he plans to pursue a degree in business with the hopes of someday working in the front office of a pro sports team.

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Cullen Hogan

Bobby Chapman Robert Chapman is a head hockey coach for both the McKinney North Stars and Frisco Ice Hockey Association. He graduated from Ohio University in 2013 with a bachelor’s in Sport Management, and he also received his Master’s in Sports Administration from Ohio University in 2015. In 2015 he began coaching travel hockey for the Mckinney North Stars hockey program as an assistant with their 10u teams. He has coached with the organization ever since, and he is currently the head coach of the 14u AA team and the assistant coach for the 16u A team.

He also coaches high school hockey for Frisco Ice Hockey Association. He has been the head coach of the Junior Varsity Gold team as well as the assistant coach for the Varsity Gold team for the past 2 seasons. He also has experience being the Director of Hockey Operations for the Ohio University men’s hockey team and the Hockey Coordinator at the Stars Center in McKinney and Frisco.

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Dr. Kashif Abad is a nephrologist currently working at the University of New Mexico. He specializes in diseases of the kidneys and is able to relate his specialty to other diseases. Additionally, he is studying and working to become an interventional nephrologist, which is a subspecialty of nephrology and requires an in-depth knowledge of vascular bypasses to treat kidney diseases. Dr. Abad has a true, genuine passion for the healthcare community and enjoys impacting the lives of his patients. Dr. Abad also worked at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, and was honored to be one of the physician-scientists who submitted a research grant on the “Miami Project to Cure Paralysis” for the first investigational drug for the United States Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Abad looks to use his experiences to cultivate a difference in the lives of his patients and aims to create strides in healthcare.

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Kashif Abad

Isha Iqbal Isha Iqbal is a senior at PHS who aspires to become a physician in the medical field. As President of the Health Occupations Students of America club, she has created the “LOVE, Prosper” Campaign to support frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Elementary School Health Campaign to promote wellness and health in young children. She also created a MATLAB program that uses image segmentation to detect Sickle Cell Anemia in blood smears to aid healthcare professionals in detecting this disease.

Isha hopes to continue to research healthcarerelated issues and create innovative solutions to promote a healthy society.

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Jedi Irizarry is a senior at Rock Hill High School.

He joined the Prosper Career Independent Study program in the fall of 2020 after hearing good things about the program from a good friend. He enjoys volunteering and helping others . He is very involved with his parish, St. Ann’s Catholic Parish in Coppell, TX. It is his hope to be able to reach out and help troubled youth by researching youth ministry and mentoring in the youth ministry staff at St. Ann’s.

Jedi has been an active part in the community at St. Ann’s. Each year in the fall, St. Ann’s puts on a carnival for a weekend as a fundraiser and Jedi often spends over 30 hours of the weekend volunteering and helping out. As a junior, he helped lead the Middle School Ministry Retreat as well as lead a group of 8th graders through their course on the Sacrament of Confirmation.

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Jedi Irizarry

Cooper Ray Over the past 20 years, Cooper Ray has motivated and inspired youth and adults at countless diocesan, parish, and school events across the country. He also has spoken and led worship at the National Catholic Youth Conference, the National Conference on Catholic Youth Ministry, Catholic Heart Work Camp and Steubenville Youth Conferences. After 16 years in formal ministry, he started the next phase in his journey answering the call to go “on the road” full-time where he spent nine years traveling the country speaking and singing at conferences, rallies, retreats, and missions. Cooper is now the Coordinator of Middle School Ministry at St. Ann in Coppell, TX

Sasha de Limur grew up in a small town in the Napa Valley, in an art centric family. She attended UCLA, getting a BA in Communication Studies in 2014 and after graduation she stayed in LA working towards a media and film career. Her first job was at a commercial post house in Santa Monica before joining the Post Department team at Searchlight Pictures in 2017. She likes working in post as it blends the organization and collaboration aspects of filmmaking with the creative side of piecing the final film together and bringing it to what we can all enjoy on screen.

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Sasha de Limur

David McKimmie

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David McKimmie was born in London, England and studied Drama at the University of Exeter. After graduation, he moved to Los Angeles where he worked on films such as ‘Alien: Resurrection’, ‘Fight Club’ and ‘Mulholland Drive’. A stint helping a friend in Editorial led to a new career in Post Production on titles including ‘Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World’, ‘The Day After Tomorrow’, and the ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’, and ‘Maze Runner’ franchises. After a dozen years supervising movies of every type, David joined the staff of Searchlight Pictures. He was promoted to Vice President in August 2019 and has guided the department through the Disney transition and the Covid pandemic.

Katie Johnson Katherine (“Katie”) Johnson is a senior at Prosper High School and is involved in PCIS, stadium crew and Eagle Production Group (PHS’ A/V production program). She plans on pursuing a degree in film and media production at UT-Austin. She is extremely active in Eagle Production Group which has allowed her to compete in international film festivals, get a head start on her career by shooting videos for professional clients, and make a music video for a Grammy-nominated music artist. She is a lead camera operator at PISD Children’s Health Stadium, and can often be found on the sidelines of sports games with a camera.

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Clay Kindiger is a first year student in the Prosper Career Independent Study Program where he is exploring Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.

He is a student-athlete at Prosper High School and excels in the classroom. He is a hard-working, goal-oriented person who does everything he can to succeed in every facet of his life. He hopes to evolve his love for Mathematics and Data Science, while learning in an environment that he will one day work in. He is excited for the opportunity he is getting through PCIS, and he plans on making the most of it.

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Clay Kindiger

Casey Kindiger Casey Kindiger is a results-oriented, global entrepreneur and CEO who knows how to build and execute a bootstrap growth strategy through the most challenging market conditions. Over the past 15 years, he has launched four businesses across IT Services and Enterprise Software, three with successful exits. Casey has led organizations through periods of strategic transformation while adding Fortune 500 customers, expanding product capabilities and ensuring customers receive expert, reliable service and support.

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Nicholas Barton graduated from Kansas State University with an undergraduate degree in Philosophy with an emphasis in analytical philosophy and ethics. He then went on to receive a Master’s in Communication Studies with an emphasis in Rhetoric. After finishing college, Nicholas moved to Wichita, Kansas to begin his career in film-making by working on music videos and commercials as well as working as a television producer for a multitude of shows.

Nicholas currently resides in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and is an Executive Marketing and Business Development Professional at Arlington Orthopedic Associates.

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Nicholas Barton

Sydney Kratochvil Sydney Kratochvil is a senior at Prosper High School who is very interested in marketing and how consumers decide to buy products.

She currently takes pride in her Prosper Career Independent Study (PCIS) class. Sydney is excited to be working towards learning about the multitude of applications of marketing in the real world in her PCIS class. One of the applications of marketing that she wants to explore in more depth is music marketing and band/artist management.

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Amy Kunkur is a senior at Rock Hill High School. As part of PCIS, she ventured into the medical branch of psychiatry. She is studying under the mentorship of Dr. John Burruss, CEO of Metrocare Services and professor at UT Southwestern Medical School.

For her final product, Amy followed the 87th Texas Legislature Budget with Dr. Burruss. She analyzed the long-term effects of 2020’s financial budget in terms of local healthcare access, costs, and mental health resources. In college, Amy plans to study healthcare studies on a pre-med track. Amy would like to thank her mentor Dr. Burruss for his guidance and unwavering support.

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Amy Kunkur

John Burruss John Burruss, M.D. is the CEO of the Dallas County Community Mental Health Center Metrocare Services. Burruss is a professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical School, a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and the Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians. He is a member of the American College of Psychiatrists, the American Medical Association, and the Texas Medical Association. Burruss received a Bachelor of Arts in biochemistry from UT-Austin and a Doctor of Medicine after completing his residency in psychiatry at the Baylor College of Medicine.

Additionally, he received a certificate in leadership strategies for evolving healthcare executives from Harvard School of Public Health.

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Victoria Benning is Deputy America Editor at in Washington, DC. She provides coverage, making history at this multimedia organization. She also has journalism experience at other companies, such as

. Mrs. Benning uses her journalism skills to give details of the reality of our society, intriguing the audience of many people. She is now working with Tia to provide her with the depths of her job, while also seeking her into the many possible paths that can be taken in the field of journalism. History is being made and Victoria Benning is helping share that, while Tia is learning more and more from her skills.

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Victoria Benning

Tia Laury Tia Laury is a senior at Prosper High School who wants to expand into the journalism field. She finds interest in authoring, as well as advocating for change in society. Through PCIS she has gained professional connections with people in this field, and hopes to publish a book in the near future. She hopes to become more educated in other aspects of journalism as college approaches her. Tia couldn’t be more thankful for her mentor, Victoria Benning. She is helping her become a proficient journalist by giving her insights on the career and challenging her perspectives in the field

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Alexa McDermott is a senior at Prosper High School and a first-year student in the Prosper Career Independent Study Program. Initially wanting to be an aerospace engineer at NASA, Alexa always felt that she had a calling towards the STEM field as a future career. In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, she soon realized that she had a growing passion for medicine, after listening to a medical podcast hosted by two epidemiologists, . Eager to learn more about medical sciences, she soon conducted even more research into the medical field and discovered that she was interested in a wide variety of practices, ranging from neuroscience to pediatrics. Alexa was mentored by Dr. Marc Arel of Jackson Memorial Hospital. She plans to receive her Bachelor’s Degree in Microbiology with a minor in Spanish, and continue on to attend medical school.

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Alexa McDermott

Marc Arel Dr. Marc Arel is a Pediatric Emergency Room Physician at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida. Pursuing an undergraduate degree in Psychology at the University of Miami, Dr. Arel soon had to make a decision between attending Medical School or Law School. He decided on studying medicine. Initially, Marc Arel wanted to specialize in general medicine, but found it “too boring”. He also thought about specializing in emergency medicine, but soon discovered that he had a passion for working with children, as it was much more exciting and lively. In the end, he found a middle-ground in emergency pediatrics, and enjoys helping children and their families.

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Josh Kindiger, President of Grok LLC, is a salesman at heart with outstanding leadership skills. Josh studied at UNT as well as SMU. He has described the primary objective of his job to be to manage the sales and growth of the company, to help promote the company while working with the marketing team, and lastly by looking over the progress the development team is making. “In order for the company to succeed I make calls to each team every morning to get progress updates and to keep everyone informed of any new information involving anything from advertisement, investors, or even different companies that we work with.” With his 20+ years of proven management experience he makes for an incredibly knowledgeable person to work for.

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Josh Kindiger

Blake McEwan Blake McEwan is a senior at Prosper High School.

He will be attending Grayson College where he will play baseball and work towards his Associate Degree. Throughout high school Blake has devoted himself to not only his studies but many extra curricular activities such as volunteering with the special needs students, working a part-time job, and pursuing his dream of playing college baseball.

While in college he plans to study business and finance as well as working towards finding summer internships. The business world is something that Blake has always been interested in pursuing after college. With the help of his mentor Mr. Kindiger, Blake hopes to gain insight on some of the more specific parts of sales and marketing but also what it takes to run a business as Mr. Kindiger does.

Knowing these key components along with the guidance of his mentor will give him a head start once he joins the business world.

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Dymond Mitchell is a Junior at Rock Hill High School.

During her stint in the Prosper Career Independent Study program, Dymond has focused on furthering her knowledge of the Pediatric specialty under the mentorship of Dr. Scott Chowning of Prosper Pediatrics. Prior to this program, Dymond invested her time in enriching her understanding of the medical field through an array of opportunities such as shadowing a craniofacial plastic surgeon as well as participating in the University of Oklahoma SPARK program. She credits her parents and mentor for supporting the development of her interest in the health industry. She hopes to one day serve the community with her abilities in medicine.

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Dymond Mitchell

Scott Chowning Dr. Scott Chowning, an American Academy of Pediatrics board-certified Pediatrician, operates the Prosper Pediatric private practice in Prosper, Texas. He is a native of Oklahoma, but received his undergraduate degree from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Dr. Chowning continued his education and acquired his medical degree from John Hopkins University as well as completed his residency at the University of Oklahoma. He obtained his board-certification in 2012 and has since continuously worked to better the community around him through his medical knowledge.

Furthermore, after hours, Dr. Chowning can be found acting as a supportive husband and loving father to his wife and four kids. His willingness to support the upcoming generation of physicians has proved him to be an exceptional mentor in all aspects.

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Ani Simmons has a passion for connecting teachers and students to museums and helping teachers find new ways to incorporate museums into their classrooms. Through the positions she has held, she has worked to bring a depth of experience in the field of education as well as a breadth of knowledge in the museum field. She has served as the Education Programs Coordinator at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, Education and Volunteer Coordinator in a small contemporary cultural anthropology museum and Membership Supervisor at the Dallas Museum of Art.

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Ani Simmons

Maddie Moats Maddie Moats is a senior at Prosper High School enrolled in Prosper Career Independent Study, where she looks forward to exploring a multitude of passions and interests, including but not limited to medicine, sociology, and journalism. She has been on the staff of her school newspaper, Eaglenationonline.com, as a reporter, writer, photographer, and podcast host for three years.

This has helped her gain interest and knowledge in current events and politics. She will be attending the University of Texas at Austin in the fall of 2021, where she will further pursue her education and explore different career trajectories.

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Rachana Mohan is a senior at Rock Hill High School. In her Prosper Career Independent Study (PCIS) class, she is researching the different aspects of business such as marketing, finance, and management. Her interest in this career path was sparked from the beginning of highschool as she took many Business & Industry electives. Rachana sees PCIS as a way to network and gain insight into her desired field. In her first project, she explored marketing while working with a business to help increase its foot traffic and sales, and came up with a variety of solutions that could be implemented.

Next year, she will be attending the University of Texas at Dallas as a Finance major.

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Rachana Mohan

Kami Rivera Kami Rivera is currently working with Neighborhood Credit Union in Prosper as a Branch Manager.

She received her Associates Degree from Collin College and worked with Bank of America as a Teller for fifteen years where she managed ledger accounts, audit reports, and coached her team to accomplish financial goals.

Mrs. Rivera has also previously worked with IBERIABANK for four years as a Branch Manager and Assistant Vice President where she opened two new market retail branches. She was previously a representative for the Dallas and North Dallas/ Fort Worth markets. Mrs. Rivera is married to her husband who is a firefighter and they share four children.

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Trisha McGinnis, D.O., is an anesthesiologist at Cleveland Clinic Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. She obtained her undergraduate degree as a Biology Major before attending medical school at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Georgia. After graduating, she worked diligently at the Detroit Medical Center for her residency in anesthesiology followed by fellowship training in critical care medicine at Cleveland Clinic.

She started practicing in July 2020 in both anesthesiology and critical care medicine. She splits her time alternating blocks performing anesthesia and taking care of the most critical patients in the intensive care unit. Her interests include watching movies and catching the latest series when not studying for her certification board exams.

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Trisha McGinnis

Lukas Morehead Lukas Morehead is a senior at Rock Hill High School. While in PCIS, he studied anesthesiology under the mentorship of Trisha McGinnis. During the last two summers, he volunteered at the Baylor Scott and White hospital, which is one of his many experiences he attributes to his interests in the anesthesiology profession. He is very thankful for the PCIS program, as well as sponsor Coshari Chacchia, and his mentor Trisha McGinnis for the opportunities and knowledge he has gained throughout the program. In the fall of 2021, Lukas will attend college with a major in Chemistry and emphasis on studying aspects of the medical field.

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Talia Morgan is a senior at PHS. She has played many sports including dance, cheer, and lacrosse.

Even as a child, she had a passion for fashion. She has always had the dream of starting her own clothing brand. She would sketch out clothes and bathing suits when she was little. Fashion is the only thing she has consistently loved and never tired of.

Designing clothes and being a part of the fashion world has been a dream of hers forever and she hopes that one day that dream comes true. She has always wanted to start her own company and not sit at a desk. That is her goal for the future as she goes into the business and fashion world.

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Talia Morgan

Niki Jones Niki Jones grew up and graduated high school from a small town in Texas, called Red Oak. She took a few classes at community college and ended up working corporate HR for a national movie theater chain. Her work in HR then took her to the world of construction as an office manager/ project manager/marketing assistant.After having a family, she decided that she wanted to do something for herself and start her own business.

She has always loved clothes, accessories, and fashion. Niki has ventured out and has created her own company, called HauteCocoCouture. She is busy building a lifestyle brand, all while raising a gorgeous family!

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Bill Morris is the Vice President, Leasing for the Mall and Large Retail Format team in CBRE’s Retail Asset Services division. With experience spanning the retail real estate spectrum, Bill has developed specialty expertise in the leasing of outlet centers as well as lender-controlled malls and REOs. He brings extensive knowledge of ground-up developments in both malls and outlet formats. Bill has a reputation for maintaining strong and close working relationships with tenants. His involvement in project development, leasing and marketing of the centers provides a well-rounded understanding of what clients need to elevate their properties or re-position them to regain relevance. Bill has had experience at several different companies, as well as started his own, and is currently working at CBRE in Dallas.

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William Morris

Lily Morris Lily Morris is a Junior at Prosper High school planning on graduating in the spring of 2022. She is studying various career fields to determine what she actually wants to study. She is looking into a career in the fields of either Psychology, Missionary Work, Real Estate, Law, or Politics. During high school Lily has not only been dedicated to her studies but also to her extracurricular activities.

During her high school career she has been involved in NHS, Student Council, HOSA, Psi Alpha, Our Minds Matter Club, Sports Medicine, PCIS, and Prosper Cheer. She has also been involved in National Charity League where she has collected over 600 hours of community service over the years, and is deeply involved in her church. Lily is still trying to figure out what she wants to pursue but is open to many career fields. She is working with Bill Morris and hopes to gain knowledge of the real estate world as well as grow her network.

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Sydney Mossinger is a senior at Prosper High School.

In the Prosper Career Independent Study Program, she studied Nursing to expand her knowledge in the medical field. Through PCIS she has learned about the inner workings of the healthcare system on multiple levels. Sydney Plans to pursue a degree in Nursing at The University of Arkansas to be able to fulfil her dreams of caring for people. Sydney has also been interested in Nursing as she got her Certified Nursing Assistant license last year. Sydney has worked with her mentor, Emily Bukauskas to further learn about what nurses do in a day to day life and to figure out what type of nurse she wants to be.

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Sydney Mossinger

Emily Bukauskas Emily Bukauskas found her passion for medicine when she was a young girl. She recently moved to Texas from Virgina and works as a Nurse Practitioner at Modera Clinic. She went back to school to get her Nurse Practitioner license in May of 2019 although she has worked as a Registered Nurse since 2003. She has also worked as a Nurse in the United States Navy for 6 years.

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Loribeth Tanner is a physical scientist at the United States’ Environmental Protection Agency. Her specific focus is on Clean Water Act enforcement and environmental emergency response in Region 6 (Southwest US). She also has a wide array of past experiences in the environmental field, from enforcement for the Safe Drinking Water Act, policy analysis and resource assessment for the Clean Water Act (Section 404), to geoscience consultation.

Moreover, she has conducted research in geology and hydrology, including studies on surface mining, groundwater transport, soil contamination, pathogens in wetlands, and more.

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Loribeth Tanner

Anya Nagasubramanian Anya Nagasubramanian is a senior at Prosper High School who plans to major in environmental science in college. Though she has not decided on her concentration, she knows she wants to pursue a career in environmental justice and work directly with communities to develop solutions for environmental issues. Because of her interest in geological sciences, she decided to research hydrology for her final PCIS project. Thus far, she plans on creating a presentation comparing water quality in various communities in Texas to highlight the causes and solutions to the problems that impact both her own community and nearby ones.

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Samuel Osborne is a senior at Prosper High School, currently enrolled in the Prosper Career Independent Study program. Originally, he was deciding between two different fields of study, aerospace engineering and busines. However, he was hoping to find someone with experience with both. As he was going on interviews, he was very fortunate to meet with someone who had been involved in both career fields. He has always had an interest in engineering taking multiple engineering classes in high school, but in the past year both finance and project management have been part of his career studies. He believes that both these fields are possibilities for a future career, and is planning a mentorship will be able to help him decide on his major at the University of Texas A&M where he will continue his studies in the upcoming years.

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Samuel Osborne

Julie Parham Julie Parham is a senior program manager at Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems in McKinney, Texas. Her current role includes overseeing many different people and projects, such as the inner workings of how their machinery operates and what they are building. She spent the first part of her carreer at Raytheon as a software engineer working with the programming of radar and defense systems. Ultimately, being promoted into her current position, Julie has experience in both business and engineering fields and understands how they both work differently. She has both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Computer Science.

PHS

Sophie Gragg is the founder & editor-and-chief of , which is a film-only magazine where creators from around the world can have their work featured. Currently, she is earning her Master’s at the University of Southern California, studying Digital Social Media. Sophie is also currently working as a Marketing Assitant for an entertainment company in L.A. She has a passion for creating and curating content, which is what inspired her to create The Luna Collective. She hopes to expand the brand into a platform for content online, such as music and other media, as well as continue the current print magazine.

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Sophie Gragg

Bridget Overby Bridget Overby is a senior a Prosper High School. This is her first year in the Prosper Career Independent Study Program, where she has been studying graphic design, as well as fashion photography, and magazine editing. Through PCIS, she has connected with professionals from Los Angeles to New York City. Bridget uses her creative outlets to express the importance of diversity, inclusion, and empowerment within today’s remarkably critical society. Earlier in the year, some of her photographs were featured in The Luna Collective, a magazine based out of Los Angeles. Through this incredible opportunity, she met her mentor and was inspired to create her own magazine. She is beyond thankful for the tremendous support from her teachers, mentors, peers, and family for making that idea into a reality.

Her goal is to create a platform that gives a voice to those who would otherwise be buried.

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Arie Pearson is a senior at Prosper High School. She has been a part of PCIS for her senior year, studying financial planning. She also has been involved in soccer since freshman year. Throughout her studies with the PCIS program she has been able to make connections in the financial field that will help her pursue her career. Arie plans to be a financial advisor and provide a welcoming environment and plan a stress free retirement plan for her clients.

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Arie Pearson

Robert Pearson For close to 25 years, Robert Pearson has been helping his clients work to avoid costly mistakes and make more informed investment decisions.

He is a proud graduate of The College of Business at Kansas State University. In addition, he holds the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor designation – exemplifying his commitment to providing world-class comprehensive advice to his clients. Faith, patience and discipline are required in this field. The combination of growing dividends and compounding has helped him meet his objectives, withstand storms and build wealth over time. When he’s not perfecting financial plans, you can find him at his ranch hunting or fishing with his wife, two daughters, and son. Of course, he has to take his two German shepherds because his wife, Melissa, a veterinarian, can’t go anywhere without her animals.

RHHS

Kristin Duckworth is a physical therapist and clinic director at Vista Physical Therapy. After she received her Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from the University of Texas at Austin, she earned her Master’s of Physical Therapy at the University of Texas Southwestern School of Allied Health Sciences. Additionally, she holds a national certification as a CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist) and CKTP (Certified Kinesio Taping Practitioner). She has worked at Vista Physical Therapy for over seven years and has a total of more than fifteen years of experience.

Kristin Duckworth utilizes her professional skills to deliver personalized and successful treatment.

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Kristin Duckworth

Jenna Ray Jenna Ray is a senior at Rock Hill High School and is studying physical therapy in PCIS. Throughout high school, Jenna has taken on a rigorous course load of AP classes and will major in kinesiology in college. Additionally, Jenna is a member of several honor societies, including Mu Alpha Theta and National Honor Society, has volunteered at her community church for over three years, and enjoys playing in the Rock Hill Band. These activities have cultivated values of compassion and creating a positive impact in the community. Jenna is extremely grateful for both Mrs. Duckworth’s and Mrs. Chacchia’s guidance throughout the course.

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Julia Ray is a senior at Rock Hill High School studying speech-language pathology in the PCIS program. She plans to pursue her undergraduate degree in speech, language, and hearing sciences.

With her passion for health science, she will strive to deliver compassionate care to treat communication disorders as a speech-language pathologist. Throughout high school, Julia has demonstrated her diligence through her rigorous coursework, her leadership as a band officer in marching band and concert band, and her service as a Sunday School youth volunteer and a Mu Alpha Theta tutor. Julia is incredibly thankful for Ms. Gluck’s guidance and Ms. Chacchia’s instruction throughout this program.

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Julia Ray

Leah Gluck Ms. Leah Gluck M.S., CCC-SLP is the speechlanguage pathologist at Furr Elementary in Prosper ISD. She graduated from the University of Arizona in Tucson with her undergraduate and graduate degrees in speech, language, and hearing sciences. Additionally, she specializes in assessing and treating bilingual and multicultural individuals. Throughout the year, Ms. Gluck and Julia have participated in weekly meetings to discuss Ms. Gluck’s experience in the field and various areas of speech-language pathology including communication disorders, treatment techniques, and job responsibilities. Additionally, Ms. Gluck has provided numerous research articles and a communication disorders textbook to further Julia’s understanding of the field.

PHS

Joel Warden is a physical therapist working for Most/DFW. Most/DFW provides in-home and clinic-based therapy sessions specializing in myofunctional orofacial, occupation, and speechlanguage therapies. Joel tends to work with younger individuals who need some sort of physical therapy to help improve their lifestyle. Using technology, obstacles, and smaller items, the therapy allows each individual to learn and grow their mind as well as strengthening their body. Joel says that seeing the growth in the individuals is an amazing experience, but it is even better when others can see the progress.

MENTOR

Joel Warden

Emma Reed Emma Reed is a senior at Prosper High School. She has been studying physical therapy in the PCIS program. Throughout her experience in PCIS, she has not only learned how to grow her network, but she has also learned about the healthcare system.

Emma has gained a greater understanding of the physical therapy career through her mentor, Joel Warden. Emma has been able to shadow Mr. Warden and better understand what being an everyday physical therapist looks like. Emma plans on studying Pre-Physical Therapy or medical humanities at Baylor University.

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MENTOR

Tanya Rozario is a junior at Rock Hill High School.

She is a parliamentarian in National Honor Society, historian in DECA Club, and president of the Makeup Club. In addition to these, Tanya is also an active member in Student Council, FBLA , Spanish Honor Society, Bollywood Dance Club and United Cultural Society. Her passon for business and belief in teamwork and leadership led her into this program, and she hopes to achieve great things through this program. In the fall of 2022, she plans to attend the University of Texas at Dallas and major in Global Business.

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RHHS

Tanya Rozario

Pooja Mehta Pooja Mehta is one of the fastest growing celebrity makeup artists. She specializes in weddings, special occasions, fashion, and editorials. Working with Bollywood and Tollywood celebrities, she has gained immense popularity in the film industry.

Specializing in airbrush and traditional makeup application, Pooja has worked on many brides and made them feel beautiful on their special day.

Holding a degree from a top certified makeup school, Pooja provides first class makeup services to all her clients regardless of their fame and popularity. She is devoted to all her clients and strives to provide her clients with the best makeup service possible. Her goal is to make her clients feel gorgeous and she is successfully doing that in style.

PHS

Undisputedly one of the most versatile choreographers as well as performers in the industry. Based in NYC, her work is in demand coast to coast as well as internationally. True education for upcoming dancers is not only something she is passionate about, to her, it is absolutely essential for the developing dancer.

Ashlé shares her extensive knowledge and truly educates each student no matter their level. Her credits include: Top 4 on the inaugural season of “SYTYCD”, “America’s Got Talent” (background performer), “American Idol Gives Back”, and many more. She has danced and choreographed for artists including: Martin Short, Rachel Dratch, Mario Cantone, Anne Hathaway, John Leguizamo and Gloria Estefan. Ms. Ashlé Dawson is currently on Faculty at Broadway Dance Center.

MENTOR

Ashlé Dawson

Karolina Rubio-Terrazas Karolina has focused her time in PCIS on exploring the world of professional dancers and life beyond high school level dance. She sees herself pursuing a life as a professional dancer with a concentration in commercial dance. Karolina has been taking dance for the past 12 years, with knowledge and training in a variety of dance forms from contemporary to hip-hop. For the past three years she has been a member of her high school drill team and the PHS Theater Department, where she has focused her time in expanding her knowledge of the arts. Karolina is also a member of the senior dance company at the All Out Dance Academy located in Prosper. Karolina has dedicated her time in PCIS to the understanding of the professional dance industry and ways to succeed in said industry. She plans on unveiling a project, composed of the knowledge she has learned from her mentor, during the spring of 2021.

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MENTOR

Olivia Savage is a senior at Prosper High School studying English pedagogy, specializing in the secondary education setting. Olivia has had the privilege of becoming a book club leader, reading program founder, and a published author during her time in PCIS. She will be pursuing English Education at Stephen F. Austin State University following graduation, and aspires to return to the North Dallas area after college to teach anywhere between 6th and 10th grade. She is extremely thankful for the leadership of her mentor, Mr. Benjamin Whiteside, as well as the guidance of her PCIS advisor, Mrs. Tiffany Ballard, over these past couple of years.

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PHS

Olivia Savage

Benjamin Whiteside Benjamin Whiteside is an experienced English educator at Prosper High School. He received his Bachelor’s in Secondary Education at Wayland Baptist University, before teaching in Sanger, Texas for several years. He has been in Prosper ISD since 2015 teaching Honors English I, Honors English II, and English IV. Mr. Whiteside has cultivated a classroom with a very personal atmosphere where students are able to connect on both an academic and social level. He has a well-rounded curriculum covering the depths of literary analysis, and allowing students a more profound understanding of literature itself. Mr. Whiteside goes beyond the instruction to create meaningful relationships and experiences.

Tony Felker serves as President/CEO of the Frisco (TX) Chamber of Commerce. He earned a Bachelor of Business in Marketing, as well as a Bachelor of Journalism from UT Austin. Active in the industry, Tony sits on the Board of Regents for the Institute of Organization Management (IOM), a program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the board of North Texas Commission (NTC). Tony’s involvement in the local and regional community, both on a professional and individual level, has been a very valuable asset for future endeavors in the area.

MENTORS

Tony Felker

Karen Kim

RHHS

Karen Kim currently serves as Vice President, Marketing and Communications for the Frisco Chamber of Commerce. Karen has over 20 years of marketing, management, communication, and graphic design experience in a variety of industries. Outside of marketing and communications, Karen is very active in the community and serves on the Frisco ISD Long Range Planning Committee, FISD CTE campus improvement team, and is the supervisor to 3 Frisco ISD interns.

Aditi Shankar Aditi Shankar is a junior at Rock Hill High School.

She is currently studying business management and administration & marketing in the PCIS program under the mentorship of Karen Kim and Tony Felker from the Frisco Chamber of Commerce. Within her mentorship, she is gaining knowledge through observing her mentors’ day in their work lives. In PCIS she researches and works alongside other students and her mentors to learn more about the distinctiveness of a business and be qualified for the real-world. She joined PCIS to hopefully have the business skills to become a qualified entrepreneur in her future pursuits.

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MENTOR

Marietta Sheehan is a junior at Rock Hill High School and currently a member of Prosper Career Independent Study. Hoping to pursue neuropsychology, she brings five years of volunteer experience with her. Having volunteered at organizations such as NuMinds and Learning Ally, she has worked as a STEAM camp counselor and has recorded voice overs of Spanish books for those with reading disabilities. She is an enthusiastic individual with superior skills working in both teambased and independent capacities. Marietta brings a strong work ethic, excellent organizational skills, and a strong interest in helping others as shown in previous experience. She is eager to begin new challenges involving her passion in science due to an ingrained sense of motivation and through her mentorship in psychology alongside Dr. Leita Blair.

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RHHS

Marietta Sheehan

Leita Blair Leita Blair LPC, LMFT, is a psychotherapist and licensed marriage and family therapist with an office in Richardson, Texas. Using a holistic approach, she specializes in treating a wide range of patients ranging from individuals to family units, and treating conditions such as anxiety, addiction, depression, and relationship issues. Having attended East Texas State University and having attained a Master’s degree in Psychology, she has been a licensed marriage and family therapist since 1980. Leita has gained an abundance of experience over the course of her career and now currently owns her own counseling practice.

She works hard to ensure the best interpersonal treatment for each of her patients, devoting herself within her practice to ensure an improved quality of life for them.

RHHS

Shaun Shore is a physician assistant with sixteen years of experience working at different hospitals.

Shaun attended Western Oregon University where he obtained his bachelor’s of education but then shifted paths and graduated from Baylor College of Medicine in 2004. He began his career as a neurosurgical trauma PA in Fort Worth, TX. In 2007, he joined the Baylor Scoliosis Center where he treated patients with complex spinal deformities.

In 2013, Shaun created his own First Assist surgical company where he worked as an independent contractor performing first assistant duties in multiple surgical specialties. In 2019, he joined the Baylor Scott and White Hospital at McKinney where he is now a neurosurgical PA. Shaun is one of the best in his field and has been an excellent mentor for our PCIS program over the past two years.

MENTOR

Shaun Shore

Shaylee Shore Shaylee Shore is a senior at Rock Hill High School and also a second year Prosper Career Independent Study student. In PCIS this year, she continued her study of surgical physician assistant medicine under the mentorship of Shaun Shore who is a neurosurgical PA at Baylor Scott and White McKinney. Shaylee will be attending Rice University in the fall to play D1 college volleyball and major in health sciences. After graduate school, she plans on attending PA school. For her final product, she researched the Scobb, a medical tool that was being made to help in spinal surgeries, but was never placed into production.

Shaylee would like to thank her mentor, Shaun Shore, as well as her current and former advisors Mrs. Chacchia and Mrs. Ballard for all their support and guidance.

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MENTOR

Nishanthi Subramanian was born in Tamilnadu, India and came to the United States in 2011. She had difficulties throughout the years but always kept trying. Growing up, Nishanthi was involved in sports like basketball and track but something that she mainly concentrated on was Bharatanatyam which is an indian classical dance. At the age of 13 she was part of a modeling agency at John Casablancas and MTM. Nishanthi is currently a junior at Rock Hill High school. She wants to attend the University of Texas at Dallas to get her undergraduate degree and then pursue her master’s degree. The career that Nishanthi chose to study is Petroleum Geology because she wanted to choose a career that is stable but also challenging. Nishanthi believes that there is no better feeling than loving yourself.

RHHS

Nishanthi Subramanian

Robert Strauss Robert Strauss is an Adjunct Professor of Geology at Dallas Baptist University. This career position is the result of over thirty years of studying the geology of planet earth in many different countries and geologic settings. His teaching position also allows him to convey his passion of geology.

He is also involved in the leadership of Bible Study Fellowship groups for the last five years. Mr. Strauss is active in leading married Bible studies in his local church and has been married for fortythree years. He has one daughter who resides in Burleson, Texas with her husband and two daughters. Robert spends many summers and fall times in the national parks across America. He has also acquired a telescope during the recent COVID crisis, which allowed him to pursue a recent hobby in astronomy.

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PHS

Dr. Hemang K. Pandya is a renowned Vitroretinal Specialist/Ophthalmologist at the Dallas Retina Center. Dr. Pandya conducts the latest surgical techniques for Retinal Detachment repair, Macular Holes, Diabetic Tractional Retinal, Macular Puckers, Detachments, and a variety of other complex Vitreoretinal disorders. Dr. Pandya also specializes in the treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy, Retinal Vein Occlusions, and Age-Related Macular Degeneration. Dr. Pandya earned his M.D., with Alpha Omega Alpha honors from the Chicago Medical School and continued on to complete his Ophthalmology training at Kresge Eye Institute. He completed a two year fellowship in Vitreoretinal Surgery at Dean McGee Eye Institute. Dr. Pandya is also President of the American Retina Forum and does his part as a leader within the vitreoretinal community.

MENTOR

Hemang Pandya

Gauri Surendran Gauri Surendran is a senior at Prosper High School. She is a first year student in the Prosper Career Independent Study Program studying Public Health and Opthamology. Through this program, she has learned about the various aspects of patient care and medical technology. In her mentorship with Dr. Pandya, she has observed new retinal procedures, proper patient care, and community leadership. Gauri has observed the inner scenes of personalized healthcare firsthand.

She plans to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health in the fall to study the various aspects of healthcare, ranging from disease prevention to healthcare policy to socioeconomic and racial disparities in healthcare. She hopes to go on to medical school and become a board certified Ophthalmologist. Gauri is extremely thankful for the invaluable knowledge she gained from Dr. Pandya.

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MENTOR

Logan Whitmire is a senior research student at Prosper High School with a passion for social justice and LGBTQ+ rights. He is attending Boston University in the fall of 2021 to major in Philosophy and Neuroscience. Logan hopes to advocate for equitable healthcare policy through work in lobbying firms within his professional future. He hopes to garner a deep knowledge of the intersectionality of medicine, law, and social justice.

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PHS

Logan Whitmire

Kelli Factor Kelli Factor is currently a pharmaceutical and health science teacher at Prosper High School.

She has had over 15 years of experience as a registered nurse within differing hospitals throughout the Southwest region. Ms. Factor is an established figure within the nursing environment of North Texas with extensive knowledge of the healthcare environment patients receive their care in.

PHS

Michael Richardson is the Digital Media Producer for the Prestonwood Baptist Church Student Ministry in Plano, Texas. He produces videos of events, music, weddings, etc. He attended Ouachita Baptist University after discovering a love of media during his senior year of high school. After wondering if he truly wanted to do this for a career, he got invited to spend two weeks in Israel as part of the film crew for the trip that former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and his family lead. He felt the need to set his roots in a local church, which led him to where he is today.

MENTOR

Michael Richardson

Maddy Wilbanks Maddy Wilbanks is a senior at Prosper High School. She has been a student in the Prosper Career Independent study program this year, studying creative media production. Through PCIS she has learned the importance of professionalism and hard work. Maddy plans to pursue her interest at the University of Oklahoma with a major in creative media production and a minor in business. Maddy is incredibly thankful for her mentor, Michael Richardson, for the time he takes to meet with her and for helping her learn more about what she loves.

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MENTOR

Elijah (Eli) Williams is currently a Junior and is studying to become an Electrical Engineer. Elijah believes that through experience and practice comes success of any goal. Through PCIS he has gained some experience for presenting to larger groups of people. Elijah has been a part of the Engineering team for three years. During that time he led the electrical team and is now the captain of the Solar Car team. In July, the Solar Car team will go to Texas Motor Speedway to compete in The Challenge. Through his father, Elijah was able to meet Steve Fischer and he has been working on the Solar Car ever since. Elijah is grateful with the opportunity to be mentored by Mr. Fischer

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PHS

Elijah Williams

Steve Fischer Steve Fischer is currently Vice President of Engineering for Stonecrop Technologies. After working for T-Mobile for 15 years as Chief Innovator, he now works as a consultant. Steve also has 17 patents, some of which includes an Adaptive voltage modification, safe powering of tethered drones, and others. Steve believes that through technology the world can become a better place.

PHS

Paul practices at the Grenier Law Firm under his father, Steven Grenier. During his time there, he has gained essential transactional law experience.

Paul is licensed to practice law in Texas only. Prior to law practice, Paul worked in the Information Technology industry for over 15 years. He was able to gain extensive experience and knowledge at enterprise levels, which has helped him translate the legal practice into the digital world. Paul and his wife, Lauren, have two children — Remy and Jean-Paul. Paul is actively involved in his church and community.

MENTOR

Paul Grenier

Grace Williamson Grace Williamson is a senior at Prosper High School and a current student within the Prosper Career and Independent Study Program. She is studying law, with a current focus on corporate law. She has worked on the high school newspaper, , for three years. This year, she is now the Editor-in-Chief. Because reading, writing and arguing are some of her passions, a career in law piqued her interest. She strongly believes that everyone deserves a voice, as well as the right to legal representation, and hopes to rebuild and change the system through her work.

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MENTOR

Emily Wright is a senior at Prosper High School.

In the PCIS Program, she studied Child Life and Development, expanding on her passions of Pediatric Critical Care and advocating against child abuse. She will attend Harding University where she will be studying Nursing and Psychology. She has the goal of one day becoming a pediatric nurse or pediatric nurse practitioner. She is an active participant of the Health Occupational Services of America and Prosper Sports Medicine Program.

Previously, Emily completed the CNA program through Collin College and is certified in first-aid and basic life support. She would like to extend a thank you to Sarah Berridge for being a wonderful mentor and Tiffany Ballard for all the support she has offered her this year.

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PHS

Emily Wright

Sarah Berridge Sarah Berridge is an Alternative Response Specialist for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, where she has worked for the past two years. She currently works out of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Collin County. As an alternative response specialist, she handles less serious allegations of abuse or neglect in a more flexible way. Child Protective Investigators provide services and support to help families resolve safety issues and reduce future involvement.

Sarah graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy from Sam Houston State University and a Master of Science in Human Services with a Specialization in Family Life Education from Lubbock Christian University.

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PISDAdministration

Dr. Holly Ferguson Superintendent of Schools

The PCIS course under the direction of Mr. Seth Rutledge has led to innovation and a more creative approach to education in Prosper ISD. Our students have grown in their communication, presentation, and ability to problem-solve when provided a real-world authentic learning experience. The class has also allowed student learning to become more personalized and individualized based on the interest of students. The Prosper Career Independent Study (PCIS) embodies authentic learning and provides our students with the opportunity to connect to the world beyond the classroom. The level of engagement of our students inspires others and removes the walls of traditional education to provide our students with the ability to learn at deeper levels and prepare for a career of the future. The partnership and learning experiences with a mentor in a specific field allow each of our students to learn the importance of networking and professional communication.

I would like to thank our staff, mentors, and the PISD Board of Trustees for their support of the PCIS program. The contribution that has been made to our students’ growth and development will serve them well beyond their high school education. The connections that the PCIS students have been able to make through their mentors is invaluable. The power of education is the transfer of learning and having the ability to apply the skills that are developed in the PCIS program to the real world are in direct alignment with the Prosper ISD Graduate Profile.

Dr. Greg Bradley Deputy Superintendent

Knowledge in and of itself can be a good thing. Application of that knowledge is better. That is why the PCIS program is valuable.

There is nothing better than seeing our students strive to apply their knowledge, their ideas, and their dreams to a real world situation. It is inspiring to see the projects they complete and to hear them talk about their experience and learning, and to know that the completion of this project is not the end. In fact, this course of study is a launching pad to a field of study, a career, and possibly the next disruptive technology that will change life for all of us. Congratulations to all of this year’s participants. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for each of you.

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School Administration

Dr. John Burdett

Principal, Prosper High School

The PCIS program at Prosper High School facilitates real-world simulations for our students who are researching their interests.

PCIS provides an experience-rich environment where our students are able to explore their passion before they decide on doing this as a career. With the help of experts who serve as mentors, our students are guided by these leaders in their industry to complete a research project. This apprenticeship is a valuable opportunity for our students because it helps them determine their calling.

Thank you to all of the mentors who volunteer their time and resources to guide our students. You are providing our students with a pathway to learning that is both unique and rewarding.

Thank you to everyone who is here this evening to support our students. Your attendance provides another layer of real-world experience for our students by having an audience for their presentation. I hope you enjoy the presentations and appreciate all of the hard work that has been done by our students.

Mr. Dustin Toth

Principal, Rock Hill High School

The PCIS program has been a tremendous benefit to our students!

They are able to pursue something they are passionate about, connect with a mentor and gain an invaluable experience that will launch them into their “next” after high school. I am so proud of the work Mrs. Chacchia and her students have done this year. It has been an exceptional start to our PCIS program at Rock Hill and I have no doubt the program will continue to grow and flourish in the coming years.

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