Avondale High School Announces Class of 2011 Top “Honored Academic Students”

Five Students in the Top 10 are from Rochester Hills

Avondale Schools, an achievement-oriented learning community focused on student leadership and success in academics, the arts, and athletics, is pleased to announce its honored students from Rochester Hills from the class of 2011.

Sresht Rengesh, son of Rengesh Krishnaswamy and Varsha Rengesh of Rochester Hills, graduated as salutatorian with a GPA of 4.325.  Sresht will attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the fall in pursuit of a double major in Materials Science and Engineering and Management Science.  In addition to taking six university level classes, Sresht spent two summers working on research in alternate energy harvesting with Dr. Gopalan Srinivasan at Oakland University.  This research won him finalist status in the 2010 Siemens Competition and his findings will subsequently be published in the Journal of Applied Physics.  Sresht was selected to participate in the 2010 Telluride Association Summer Program at Cornell University. Additionally, he was awarded a 2010 Scholastic National Gold Key for Personal Writing, served on the Rochester Hills Government City Council and has played the violin for the Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra and Oakland Youth Orchestra since 2005.  Sresht recently qualified for College Jeopardy, second round auditions. He was a member of the Avondale varsity tennis team for two years, was captain in 2011 and received Avondale’s Purple and Gold Athletics Award for his efforts in citizenship and leadership.  Since his sophomore year, Sresht has been a Michigan Mathematics Prize Competition Finalist and is a 2011 National AP Scholar. He also volunteered as an after-school tutor at Avondale and managed the Gift Shop at Beaumont Hospital.

Graduating with a GPA of 4.3 is Kirsten Moy, the daughter of Peter and Katherine Moy of  Rochester Hills.  Kirsten plans to attend Wayne State University, where she was awarded a Presidential Scholarship, and will double major in Biological Sciences and French. She plans to attend medical school to pursue a career as a cardiologist.  Throughout her years at Avondale, Kirsten was involved in numerous activities, including Peer Mediation.  She was on the varsity softball team for four years and was captain this year.  Kirsten was selected as an All-League player in 2009 and has been an OAA scholar athlete every year.  She was a three year member of the National Honor Society and the French Club, where she served as Vice-President. Kirsten also ran two American Red Cross blood drives at the high school this year, raising over 160 pints of blood.  She received academic honors including the Principal’s Honor Roll for all four years, AP Scholar and outstanding achievement awards in both Biology and Algebra II during her freshmen and sophomore year.  She also received the Avondale Youth Assistance Youth Recognition Award in 2011 for outstanding service in the community and beyond.

Dhananjaya Premawardena, of Rochester Hills, graduated with a 4.28 GPA.  The son of Abhaya and Asha Premawardena, Dhananjaya was involved in the Avondale Swim Team for three years, served in Communications for the National Honor Society, served as Vice President of Students Against Destructive Decisions for two years and was President of the French Honor Society. Dhananjaya was also active in Theatre, Amnesty International and Class Board. He received three gold cups in the National Federation of Music, an annual piano festival that he participated in since 2002.  Dhananjaya is an AP Scholar and was a National Merit Scholar Finalist in 10th grade. He plans to attend the University of Michigan to study pharmacology.

Ishan Patel, graduated with a 4.26 GPA and is the son of Suresh and Rita Patel of Rochester Hills. During Ishan’s high school career he was a member of the tennis team and served for two years on the Rochester Hills Government Youth Council (RHGYC).  During his time with RHGYC, he served on the Water & Sewer and Police & Road subcommittees.  Ishan volunteered more than 500 hours at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital over the course of three years.  During the summer of Ishan’s junior year, he worked with a neuroscience professor at Detroit Medical Center (DMC) and was a researcher studying MRIs. Ishan plans to study pre-medicine and business administration at the University of Michigan and ultimately attend medical school. 

Kelsey Wilson graduated with a 4.216 GPA and is the daughter of Ken and Chris Wilson of Rochester Hills.  She played on the soccer, golf, volleyball and basketball teams at Avondale High and, in her senior year, was captain of the golf team. Kelsey received the Purple and Gold Award for her leadership in athletics.  She was a member of the National Honor Society, French Honor Society and Class Board, and was a part of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Club.  Along with school activities, Kelsey has been employed at Pine Trace Golf Club and coached soccer through the Fun 4 Sports Program at Detroit Country Day School.  In 2011, Kelsey was a recipient of the Excellence in Education Award through the Auburn Hills Chamber of Commerce.  She received numerous scholarships, including the Mary Ann Reidinger Scholarship awarded through the Community Foundation of Greater Rochester. Kelsey will attend the University of Michigan to pursue a career in biology research.

Rounding out Avondale High School Honored Seniors in the top 30 from the Class of 2011 are:

Anna Olsavsky; 4.183 GPA; Parents: Josef and Julie Olsavsky of
Rochester Hills

Azeem Khatri; 4.15 GPA; Parents: Maksud and Kishwar Khatri of
Rochester Hills

Alicia Savelly; 4.065 GPA; Parents: Thomas and Linda Savelly of
Rochester Hills

Kevin Tebbe; 4.063 GPA; Parents: Jim and Diane Tebbe of
Rochester Hills

Lauren Michon; 4.039 GPA; Parents: Michael and Barbara Michon
of Rochester Hills