News

NOVI, Mich. -- Twenty-five seniors from Novi High School were named National Merit Scholarship Finalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corp.

"Novi High School is elated to announce that we have 26 Wildcats who have earned National Merit status," said Novi High School Principal Nicole Carter. "I am very proud of our students' commitment to excellence in education. Their tenacious work ethic and drive to put their best foot forward inspires our entire community to be better. Our knowledgeable staff and supportive parents help our students to excel at a high level."

Novi High School finalists are listed below, in alphabetical order: 

• James Chen
• Scarlett Chen
• Kashika Chhabra
• Pracheeta Chordia
• Rohan Deme
• Shrey Devulapalli
• Ashley Fan
• Antara Gandhi
• Srihari Ganesh
• Jessica Jang
• Mukund Jayaraju
• Michelle Jecmen
• Hannah Kim
• Gabriel Luo
• Vibha Makam
• Bryan Nie
• Bianca Palicha
• Gauri Patel
• Riley Rich
• Claire Roffi
• Madeline Simmon
• Katherine Song
• Jill Vaishnav
• Linda Weng
• Elizabeth Yang

About half of the finalists will be chosen for scholarship awards. Those announcements begin in April.

Novi, Mich. -- Sheila Ebel, a Health and IB Sport Exercise teacher, was named the outstanding high school teacher of the year on Monday. 

Ebel has been teaching at Novi High School for the past sixteen years. She graduated from Central Michigan University in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science in Sports Medicine and continued on to achieve her Master of Science in Education from Walden University in 2006.

Novi High Principal Nicole Carter called Ebel "an incredible teacher."

"She has a heart of gold," Carter said. "The compassion that she demonstrates towards our students motivates, encourages, and inspires them to be better.  She has a deep understanding of pedagogy, where she engages students in the learning process in unique ways.  She ignites curiosity in our students through the connections that she makes with them.  She exudes a warm, welcoming, and supportive presence which brightens the day of her students and our entire Wildcat family.  Ms. Sheila Ebel is a courageous, servant teacher leader who has made a profound difference at Novi High School.  To know her is to love her!”

Ms. Ebel’s colleagues, Megan Taylor and Shannon Hadley, stated that, “Sheila is a motivational, caring, compassionate, and driven person.  She is organized and keeps students on task and learning with a combination of hands on work, direct instruction, project learning, and differentiation for students at all levels.  Sheila takes great pride in the coursework that she teaches.  She in dedicated to the needs of every student and quickly builds rapport with her people.”  Bill Kelp said that, “She is a driven, organized teacher who develops inspiring relationships with her students.  She deeply cares about her students and they look to her for guidance and approval.” 

Kim Harding, one of Ms. Ebel’s parents stated that, “I am so fortunate that my kids had Mrs. Ebel for a teacher!  She is one of those rare teachers that has the special ability to see all of her students’ strengths and weaknesses, and she teaches and guides them according to their unique style and ability.  My daughter, now in college, was the Co-President for SLS/SADD (Student Leadership Services/Students Against Destructive Decisions), which Ms. Ebel supervises.  Ms.

Ebel teaches and mentors the students on leadership and making good decisions.”  Chris Oshana, one of Ms. Ebel’s former students, stated that, “As a teacher, she is caring, understanding, and helpful.  Ms. Ebel is dedicated to ensuring that every student she comes in contact with has a positive high school experience.”

Ms. Ebel, in her sixteen years at Novi High School, has forged lasting friendships with her colleagues, parents, and most importantly students.  Through her caring and compassion, she has taught, guided, and mentored students to realize their true potential and is an extraordinary asset to the high school staff.

The one act, Mother Hicks, had its district performance on Monday and several students earned awards.

Excellence

Acting: Anthony Martin

Costumer: Saamanthy Rajenthiran

Lighting Design: Khushi Gooroochurn

Lighting Execution: Damian Barkas, Hussien Ghaddar, Maya Ghaddar, Khushi

Gooroochurn, Bryan Koukoudian, Vinh-Han Truong

Technical Direction: Allison Blankenship

Superior

Set Design: Allison Blankenship

Prop Master: Paige Osterkamp

Poster Design: Vismaad Nagra

If you are interested in seeing the show, it is 45 minutes and FREE! Performances will be held next Tuesday and Wednesday evenings (Feb. 4-5) at 7 p.m. in the auditorium.