Author name: Lynda

A team of 5 Seniors representing the Creekside’s Engineering Academy competed at the district level Project Innovation Competition. Their project, VitaTap, is a more affordable alternative to the EpiPen where the durable casing can be re-used reducing the cost to just epinephrine refills and injection components after use. This has been an issue they have been interested in for years due to several close friends having severe food allergies and jumped at the opportunity to design something when EpiPen’s patent ran out last fall. They won the award for “Best Practical Innovation” for the most feasible, easy-to-implement product with a clear potential for real-world use. The team members include Nathan Lough, Jacob Griffin, Elijah Miller, Dalton Phillips and Ryder Tweet.

Congratulations to the Creekside Girls Cross-Country team, State Champions!

Congratulations to Creekside High School’s Class of 2026 National Merit Semi-finalists:

• Jasmine Cai
• Ishir Jha
• Kendra Magloff
• Aidan McCabe
• Shreyas Sindhaval
• Eshaan Kota

Qualifying FBLA members attended the National Leadership Conference in Anaheim, California this summer.  FBLA consists of approximately 70 competitive events and members are allowed to select one event to compete in, starting at the district level.  Each state is allowed to send their top four students in each event to the national competition.  We are proud to announce Creekside’s national winners:

• Ethan Glocke — 1st place in Job Interview
• Mihir Jha — 3rd place in Computer Applications
• Dylan Blanton — 5th place in Cybersecurity
• Aidan McCabe — 8th place in Cybersecurity
• Kundhana Pakkala — 9th place in Introduction to FBLA

Congratulations to the 2025 American Youth Character Awards Recipients from Creekside!

• Ava Church
• Kathryn Clarke
• Gabrielle Hutchins
• Brooke MacPeek
• Ella Mattson
• Brie McCoy
• Arthur Paranhos
• Neeya Patel, Pursuing Victory with Honor Athlete
• Neveah Pimental
• Caden Reed
• John Reed
• Madeline Shedlock
• Bryce Wilde

Congratulations also to the Top 3 Percent of the 2025 graduating class who were recognized at the STAR Banquet.

• Elliott, Kylen
• Glocke, Ethan
• LaPointe, Mallory
• Mahdiar, Soroush
• Mann, Mason
• Marks, Eli
• Marte, Karlyn
• McLendon, Cayden
• Minter, Vanessa
• Nesargi, Shayaan
• Parikh, Aanya
• Pusateri, Lilly
• Sanchez-Camero, Marcel
• Sattiraju, Aneesh
• Sheth, Sohum
• Smith, Tristan
• Soto, Rebecca
• Talbot, Elizabeth
• Tran, Andrew

Congratulations to the Creekside High School 2025 National ACE Mentor Team on winning the CIRT/ACE Design Competition for its Carbon Capture Facility entry, “The Bullard Project.”  The team members include:  Tristan Smith, Ethan Glocke, Ethan Chen, Langley Hill, Cassie Garris, Nathan Chenarak, and Parvathi ArathiPraveen.  ACE is an after-school program introducing students to architecture, construction management and engineering.

Three student teams took the stage in Washington, D.C. to present their innovative design and construction solutions as finalists in the CIRT National Design + Construction Competition.

After thoughtful deliberation by a panel of industry judges, the results are in:

• • 1st Place ($5,000 prize) –
    ACE Mentor Program of Northeast Florida, National Team 2 for The Bullard Project
    – A forward-thinking carbon capture facility.
  • 2nd Place ($3,000 prize) –
    ACE Mentor Program Paso del Norte,Windflower Architects for their Ruby Bridges High School
    – A visionary ideal school design.
  • 3rd Place ($2,000 prize) –
    ACE Mentor Program of Washington, Seattle Tuesday Team 2 for The Tacoma Transit Tapestry
    – A vibrant, multi-modal transportation hub.

Creekside students were also awarded the following awards at the 2025 Northeast Florida ACE Regional Competition:

• Best Proposal for their Nex Gen School Presentation.  Team members include:  Matthew McAlister, Nicholas Castillo, Corne Pieterse, Pierce Mooney, Ethan Miller, Daniel Putnal, Josiah Espada, and Ellie McAlister.
• Best Presentation for their Community Center Presentation.  Team members include:  Saylor Denholm, Emilio Passalacqua, Grant Van Fleet, Ashton Marigliani, Sydney Thomas, Josh Read, Sophia Parizianu, Derek Zangerle, and Dalton Phillips.
• $10,000 Scholarship:  Soroush Mahdiar
• $10,000 Scholarship:  Lauren Brownstein
• $6875 Scholarship:  Brett Prendergast
• $5000 Scholarship:  Allison Wallner
• $3000 Scholarship:  Nathan Chenarak
• $1000 Scholarship:  Kenneth Zimmerman
• $1000 Scholarship:  Audrey Welch

Congratulations to Ms. Jill Adams, Instructional Literacy Coach for Creekside High School, for being named the 2025 Teacher of the Year for St. Johns County!  The annual banquet took place on Friday, January 31^st at the World Golf Village Renaissance Resort.  This special event recognizes and celebrates all the outstanding professionals who educate, inspire and invest in our students every day.  Ms. Adams will represent St. Johns County in the state competition later this year.

Three teams from Creekside High School participated in the 2025 St. Johns County Project Innovation competition, held in January at First Coast Technical college.  The competing teams represented the Engineering Academy, Teaching Academy, and Environmental Science Academy.  The Engineering Academy, Go Trax team, which included Tristan Smith, Chris Roa, Andy Tran, Parvathi ArathiPraveen, and Luke Millinor won first place, winning $1500.  The Teaching Academy, Buddy Bat team, which included Karina Castillo, John Reed, and Jillian Gauger, placed third in the district, winning $500.  The Environmental Science Academy, Current Greens team, which included Mary Feeks, Regan Bushman, and Hannah Karl, won the special recognition of Most Innovative.  Congratulations to all three teams!

• Karina Castillo, 1^st place School Service Project (also receives a $2,000/yr scholarship to UNF’s College of Ed)
• Grace Maxham, 2^nd place Public Speaking
• Lisa Circo, 3^rd place Job Resume/Interview
• Livi Bucca, Lilly Gregory, Maddie Moore, & Akayla Muenchrath, 2^nd place Ethical Dilemma Presentation