EAGLE NEWS

The Allen BEST Robotics team earned top honors at the UIL Robotics BEST Division State Championships, held December 11–13 at Fair Park in Dallas. The team won the 5A/6A division for the third consecutive year.

In addition to the state championship title, the team took home several other major awards. These included the MathWorks Design Award, which recognizes excellence in engineering and design and comes with a $1,000 prize. Allen has now won this award for three consecutive years.

The team also received the Video Award and the Workmanship Award for the quality and presentation of their robot.

Eighty-eight teams from across Texas and New Mexico participated in the competition. Over three days, students gave presentations, supported one another from the stands, and competed in intense rounds of robot driving.

Congratulations to the Allen BEST Robotics team for their outstanding performance and continued success.

Allen High School’s show choir, Encore, recently presented its 2025 Holiday Special under the direction of Trenton Davis. The seasonal showcase brought together classic carols, holiday pop favorites, and standout student features in a festive evening of music and performance.

Student Council is hosting the World's Fair! Our goal is to have students (and their families!) host booths to represent their countries/cultures. There will be music, food, a cultural fashion show, and performances. Use this form to sign up if you are interested in participating!

Good morning.

IT'S ALWAYS A GREAT DAY TO BE AN ALLEN EAGLE. If you are not currently in football and have an interest in playing football next season, you must go through all of off-season with us. You may reach out to Coach Broom at john.broom@allenisd.org and let him know you are interested. You must get in touch with Coach Broom before classes end this semester. Here are the things that will be taken into consideration as to whether or not you will move into football:

1. Your schedule would have to allow the change

2. Your attendance from the first semester needs to be great

3. Your grades need to be passing

4. Your discipline record needs to be clean

5. And lastly, you will explain your football background. We will then visit your former football coaches about your experience.

Thank you and have a Happy New Year,

Coach Lee Wiginton

The air is quiet, broken only by the click-clack of a pill-counting tray and a hushed, professional voice. “Can you confirm the date of birth?” A “pharmacist” in a white coat leans in, squinting at a prescription, checking it twice. The room carries the focused intensity of a real pharmacy, where a single mistake is not an option. But this isn’t a Walgreens. This is Allen High School, and these are students running a full-scale, simulated pharmacy—a capstone experience for a CTE pathway that is training the next generation of healthcare’s frontline.

Click the link to continue reading the article that was featured in Allen City Lifestyle about the great things occurring in our Pharmacy program.

https://citylifestyle.com/articles/the-pharmacists-of-tomorrow

Our 45th Annual Allen ISD Love Week is February 9-13th and this year's Love Week Recipient is The Samaritan Inn.

All teachers, students and families are encouraged to #LoveYourNeighbor and purchase a Love Week t-shirt or sweatshirt to wear on Friday, February 13th. Shirt sales are now OPEN!

Click the link or scan the QR code to purchase your shirt and learn more about Love Week 2026 and The Samaritan Inn.

https://sites.google.com/allenisd.org/love-week-2026/home

During Eagle Give Day, our hockey players helped coordinate nearly 80 students in creating and delivering 200 personalized holiday stockings for men, women, teens, and families who utilize the Samaritan Inn homeless shelter.

Each stocking was intentionally assembled for a specific age group and included handwritten words of encouragement, helping bring dignity, warmth, and hope to individuals and families during the holiday season. This project was a significant undertaking and a meaningful example of our students using leadership and service to positively impact the community.

We would also like to thank our PTSA for their massive support in making this a wild success.

Students at the STEAM Center recently completed a series of remarkable design and construction projects that highlight creativity, collaboration, and real world skills.

Level one interior design students were tasked with designing a whimsical house that incorporated architectural principles, roof types, and foundational design elements. Their completed projects demonstrated both technical understanding and imaginative interpretation.

Level two students focused on creating themed bedrooms for children ages six to eight inspired by superheroes. These designs reflect thoughtful use of space and character driven design.

Jami Dixon, Graphic and Interior Design teacher at the STEAM Center, described the experiential nature of the class.

"The class is very experiential and collaborative. Students have the opportunity to take the information they learn and turn them into skills through real world application," said Jami.

Throughout the year, students also design thematic installations for the STEAM Center for seasonal displays, from Halloween to Winter Wonderland. These include a Snoopy house, a large wooden sleigh, an oversized paper and cardboard nutcracker, and an Olaf sculpture. Students apply math, design concepts, and teamwork to overcome challenges in these installations.

Forty-nine orchestra students from Allen High School and Lowery Freshman Center recently earned seats in one of the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Region 25 High School Orchestras.

Of the 49 Allen ISD students selected, 23 advanced to the next round of the TMEA All-State Competition.

Students from Allen ISD competed against peers from Lovejoy ISD, Plano ISD, Sherman ISD, and Wylie ISD. Auditions required students to perform prepared etudes and musical excerpts before a panel of judges. Approximately 480 students auditioned for only 168 available seats.

Allen ISD students selected to a high school region orchestra are:

Lowery Freshman Center

Philharmonic Orchestra: Isabella Calender, Sahara Hossain, Nathan Hsu*, Branden Kim*, Claire Kim, Anwesha Kulkarni*, Casey Lippert, Helen Minn*, Keesha Thakkar, and Thu Tran.

Symphony Orchestra: Sydney Chang*, Kaori Ingham*, Leah Lee*, Luchen Lin, and Emily Wu*

Allen High School

Philharmonic Orchestra: Qianhang Bao, Hanna Haltseva*, Thalia Hsu, Matthew Jiang, Benjamin Kim*, Tristen Lou, Haebin Oh, Thomas Roney, Melody Saw, Sarah Shokr, Brian Suh, Matthew Szeto*, Sokheng Tes, Jayden Wu, Samuel Wu, Daniel Yom, Haojun Zhang, Yingke Zhang, and Wendy Zhao.
Symphony Orchestra: Emily Barries, Ashley Chen*, Audrey Chen*, Gio Han*, Miles Henderson, Anthony Kim*, Chase Lee*, Chuyao Lin*, Dylon Mao*, Seyed Kian Mir Mehrkar*, Nathaniel Niduasa*, Shiqing Tang*, Tristan Wang*, Yee Ning Yap*, and Claire Yin.

*Students marked with an asterisk advanced to the next round of the TMEA All-State Competition.

Congratulations to all the students for their outstanding achievements and dedication to their craft.

Auditions for the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Region 25 High School Bands were held recently, drawing approximately 2,000 student musicians from across North Texas. A total of 403 seats were available across four All-Region ensembles.

Allen High School students earned 68 of those coveted positions. These musicians competed against peers from Community ISD, Melissa ISD, Princeton ISD, Plano ISD, Lovejoy ISD, Wylie ISD, Denison ISD, and Sherman ISD. Each student performed a set of prepared etudes for a panel of judges across two rigorous audition rounds.

In addition to Region placement, 15 Allen students qualified to advance to the next level of competition. These students will participate in the TMEA Area auditions in January, which serve as the final qualifying round for the Texas All-State Ensembles.

Allen students selected to a Region Band include:

Ninth Grade All-Region Band (Lowery Freshman Center)

Parth Ahir, Praharsh Bodawala, Kyle Cotton, Eden Dowell, Sarah Farmer, Nathaniel Grzeda, Isabella Aguilar Gutierrez, Eunyu Jo, Ella Joseph, Carson Kelly, Aidan Key, Adarsh Kodimela, Caleb Kramme, Derek Lin, Max Miller, Pranesh Nagarajan, Allison Shattuck, Elizabeth Weaver, Jonathan Weaver, Amelia Wiley, and Neo Zong.

High School All-Region Bands
Lowery Freshman Center: Sarthak Chandela, Janice Huang, Ellie Jo, Michael Pierce, and Ethan Ye.

Allen High School: Wyatt Amey, Brooke Andry, Majok Anyieth*, Christopher Cagle, Clara Coppinger, Alexandre Elie-Dit-Cosaque, Chloe Cracknell*, Shyam Devanathan, Khangai Dorjderem, Andrew Endres, Aaditya Ghosh, Luke Glotzbach, Khalil Guan, Aneesh Gupta, Alice Ham*, Bren Harrison, Yael Hlebnyak, Isaac Huang, Makenzie Kane*, Jacob Kim*, Rohan Kishnani*, Grace Lee, Joseph Lee, Claire Li, Evan Lin*, Logan McCrory, Grady McFarland, Chloe Minor, Samuel Monteiro, Joshua Nicketta*, Aamir Patwa*, Colin Roach*, Mark Sajdak*, Julian Schiavon, Ian Thom*, Adhav Vijay, Connor Wilson*, Haochen Xia*, Zihe Yang*, Claire Yu, Anthony Zaino, and Lily Zuniga.

(* indicates students advancing to Area auditions)

Congratulations to all the Allen musicians for their outstanding achievement and best of luck to those advancing to Area.

The Allen Dance Department recently hosted its annual holiday dance spectacular, presenting two festive performances at the Allen Performing Arts Center. The event featured dancers from Lowery Freshman Center and Allen High School across two evening shows.

The showcase opened with the Tallenettes performing to “It’s the Most Wonderful Time,” followed by a wide-ranging program that included AHS Dance, Silver Stars, and several solo performances by Tallenette officers and underclassmen. Each show closed with the Tallenettes’ energetic rendition of “All I Want for Christmas.”

6 p.m. Show

• “It’s the Most Wonderful Time” – Allen Tallenettes

• “Wrap Me Up” – AHS Dance 6th Period

• Solo: Lucy Glotzbach – Tallenette Jr. Lieutenant – “Wrap Me Up”

• “Sleigh Ride” – LFC Dance I 7th Period

• “Northern Attitude” – AHS Dance III-IV 2nd Period

• Solo: Hannah Swint – Tallenette 1st Lieutenant – “Northern Attitude”

• “Jingle Bells” – AHS Dance II 5th Period

• “Hotel California” – Tallenette Elite

• “Ordinary” – AHS Dance III-IV 3rd Period

• “Underneath the Tree” – LFC Dance I 1st Period

• Solo: Lyla Greene – Tallenette Jr. Lieutenant – “Underneath the Tree”

• “Rockin’ Around” – AHS Dance II 3rd Period

• Solo: Ruhi Pawar – Tallenette Sophomore – “Rockin’ Around”

• “Winter Wonderland” – LFC Dance I 4th Period

• “Oh Santa” – AHS Dance I 5th Period

• Solo: Meg Boyd – Tallenette Sophomore – “Oh Santa”

• “Jingle Bell Rock” – LFC Dance I 3rd Period

• “California Dreamin” – Allen Tallenettes

• “Christmas” – LFC Dance I 2nd Period

• “Run Run Rudolph” – Silver Stars

• Solo: Bella Coffin – Tallenette Sophomore – “Run Run Rudolph”

• “Chasing Pavements” – Tallenette Officers

• “Whatchu Gonna Get For Christmas” – AHS Dance III-IV

• “All I Want For Christmas” – Allen Tallenettes

8 p.m. Show

• “It’s the Most Wonderful Time” – Allen Tallenettes

• “Wrap Me Up” – AHS Dance 6th Period

• Solo: Avery Woolley – Tallenette Jr. Lieutenant – “Wrap Me Up”

• “Sleigh Ride” – LFC Dance I 7th Period

• “Northern Attitude” – AHS Dance III-IV 2nd Period

• Solo: Hannah Swint – Tallenette 1st Lieutenant – “Northern Attitude”

• “Jingle Bells” – AHS Dance II 5th Period

• “Hotel California” – Tallenette Elite

• “Ordinary” – AHS Dance III-IV 3rd Period

• “Underneath the Tree” – LFC Dance I 1st Period

• Solo: Dillan Williams – Tallenette Jr. Lieutenant – “Underneath the Tree”

• “Rockin’ Around” – AHS Dance II 3rd Period

• Solo: Liel Shnitman – Tallenette Sophomore – “Rockin’ Around”

• “Winter Wonderland” – LFC Dance I 4th Period

• “Oh Santa!” – AHS Dance I 5th Period

• Solo: Claire Hinton – Tallenette Sophomore – “Oh Santa!”

• “Jingle Bell Rock” – LFC Dance I 3rd Period

• “California Dreamin” – Allen Tallenettes

• “Christmas” – LFC Dance I 2nd Period

• “Run Run Rudolph” – Silver Stars

• Solo: Faith Crain – Tallenette Sophomore – “Run Run Rudolph”

• “Chasing Pavements” – Tallenette Officers

• “Whatchu Gonna Get For Christmas” – AHS Dance III-IV

• “All I Want For Christmas” – Allen Tallenettes

The dance program is led by Caitlin O’Neill, Tallenette Director and Dance Department Head. She is supported by Sophie Leskis, Assistant Tallenette Director, Silver Stars Director, and Dance II–VI Instructor; and Grace Stewart, Dance I Instructor at Lowery Freshman Center.

Congratulations to the Allen Dance Department for a successful and spirited celebration of the season.

The AHS TAFE members, accompanied by their teacher leader Ms. Smith attended the Area 11 Texas Association of Future Educators Conference at Brookhaven College. Students had the opportunity to network, attend breakout sessions, and showcase their education and leadership skills. Every student demonstrated strong professionalism and dedication in representing the chapter. The following students qualified to advance to compete at the 42nd Teach Tomorrow Conference in February. Congrats to all members for their outstanding hard work!

State Qualifiers:

Ashley Brooks & Daniela Adam - Interactive Bulletin Board - Middle/High School

Alanna Street - Lesson Planning & Delivery - ARTS

Sydney Lovett - ELF Test & Job Interview

Leia Pitcock - ELF Test

Driver License Attendance Verification (Allen High School)

A currently enrolled student seeking a driver’s license shall submit the Texas Department of Public Safety Verification of Enrollment and Attendance Form (VOE) to the student’s House Office at least 10 days before it is needed. The House Office will issue a VOE only if the student meets class credit or attendance requirements. The student will pick up their VOE (if approved) in their house office after communication that the VOE is ready to be picked up.

VOE's will not be emailed or faxed for any reason.

Students, if your House Office is closed, please visit the nearsest House Office for help.

The VOE form, https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/driver/forms/VOE.pdf, is available online. Further information may be found on the Texas Department of Public Safety website, https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/driver/education/students/verification-of-enrollment.htm

Raising Eagles will host Building Healthy Routines and Habits for Child Development, presented by McKenzie Harris, RD, LD, CEDS. This session will provide families with practical strategies for creating balanced routines that support sleep, nutrition, activity, and play in order to foster children’s healthy growth and development.

The presentation will take place online at noon on January 15. Families will learn actionable steps to build consistent habits that help children thrive throughout the school year and beyond.

To learn more about Raising Eagles and to view past trainings, visit https://www.allenisd.org/raisingeagles

RSVP to Building Healthy Routines and Habits for Child Development for the link to the presentation: https://forms.gle/2peLJub1mhxgiZaE9

High school is more than just classes — it’s about connection, growth, and finding where you belong. At Allen High School, students can unlock their potential, make lifelong friends, and have a blast by joining one of our many vibrant clubs and organizations! From art and science to sports, leadership, and community service, there’s truly something for everyone.

Getting involved helps every Eagle spread their wings — building confidence, discovering passions, and creating memories that will last long after graduation. Encourage your student to find their place in the Eagles’ Nest and watch them soar!