May 21, 2026 - The highest ranked students from each Comal ISD high school were honored during the 25th Annual Jan Heckendorn Academic Recognition Banquet in early May.
The 85 students are the top graduates from the district’s seven high school campuses. They each selected a teacher to honor who has been instrumental in their success while attending Comal ISD.
Among this year’s honorees were three National Merit Finalists, an appointee to the United States Air Force Academy, collegiate athletic signees and a set of twins.
These students will fling their Comal ISD pride across a wide variety of universities including Harvard, Yale, Brown, Georgetown, Princeton, the Citadel, Bowdoin, Brigham Young, the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Trinity and Baylor.
The selected teachers who were honored included a counselor, a librarian, elementary teachers, coaches, theatre directors, band directors, choir directors, dance directors and CTE instructors in agriculture science, engineering and family science.
Each student wrote short essays explaining why these teachers meant so much to them. Consistently, they wrote that these teachers were there for them through the good and the bad, they provided a classroom atmosphere where everyone felt included, their doors were always open, and they inspired them.
This year marked the 25th anniversary of this annual event which is named for Jan Heckendorn who was instrumental in creating the Comal Education Foundation and the driving force behind the banquet. She passed away in 2008.
Annually, the Heckendorn family presents the Jan Heckendorn Memorial Scholarship to graduating seniors in Comal ISD. This year’s recipients were also top ranked students: Alana Stanford from Davenport High School and Jessica Wadle from Canyon Lake High School. Each received $2,500.
This year's banquet was sponsored by the Comal Education Foundation.
Here is a list of the top ranked students and their honored teachers per campus.
Canyon High School Top 15 and Teacher Honorees
- Maia Aldrich and Zeb Burleson
- Michaela Balbuena and Sharon Streger
- Paulina Chadick and Sarah Berry
- Ashley Gates and Farrah Dunaway
- Makayla Gonzalez and Jay Martin
- Gigi Goossens and Kevin Randle
- Ally Hennessee and Haylie Sansom
- Kolby Herget and Gary Anderson
- Brandan Hooper and Elizabeth Lamb
- Andrea Luna and Jamey Leeber
- Sydney Mace and Ashley Torres
- Adam Ruiz and Wayne Migura
- Caden Scales and Lindsey Doss
- William Shy and Melvin E. Edwards
- Shubham Solanki and Michael Saberian
Canyon Lake High School Top 15 and Teacher Honorees
- Jackson Alvarez and Penny Gabrielson
- Will Bright and Anna Bright
- Grant Cover and Emily Gwinn
- Chloe Gray and Daniella Villarreal
- Vander Hartzell and Marybeth Gallagher
- Samantha Hopper and Ron Perry
- Samantha Hrncirik and Hayley Antoniolli
- Santino Jeba and Charles Van Houten
- Benjamin Parma and Kathleen Patch
- Greysen Patton and Amanda Wimmer
- Chief Rendon and Patrick Fallin
- Wyatt Roberts and Sara Johnson
- Tristan Schenk and Col. Retired Robin M. Adams-Massenburg
- Jessica Wadle and Brent Ferguson
- Kaylee West and Ben Matthews
Davenport High School Top 15 and Teacher Honorees
- Milton Amaya and Nichele Gonzales
- Braxton Caughron and 1st Sargeant Kenneth Carbon
- Benjamin DeSorbo and Martin Acosta
- Natalie Drichta and Michael Lehmann
- Kara Kirkpatrick and Lauren Strand
- Alexi Lehning and Gid De La Rosa
- Greenley Lemmons and Jeff McKinley
- Lianne Martinez and Candice Ornes
- Kate Nash and Cody Poerner
- Alani Parker and Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Almond
- Braelyn Snyder and Dr. Keriann Oertell
- Alana Stanford and Sarah Gentry
- Brody Vestal and Sherri Wong
Hill Country College Preparatory High School Top 5 and Teacher Honorees
- Zander Abolos and Jennifer Fey
- Kylie McCranie and Tracey Anderson
- Luke Ringlein and Troy Varvel
- Brianna Schmeis and Rena Keinrath
- Keshav Singh and Richard Muenich
Memorial Early College High School Top 5 and Teacher Honorees
- Jaden Adams and Colleen Sturm
- Kynadi Britt and Mason Cardiff
- Russell Flournoy and Chris Murrell
- Micaela Perez and Christy Mullen
- Lucy Peters and Genevieve Miller-Sallese
Pieper High School Top 15 and Teacher Honorees
- Kat Anderson and Amanda Listiak
- Alesia Bohanna and Lyndi Brewer
- Laney Flores and Erin Ibarra
- Greyson Gore and Jeff Mock
- Andrew Grinestaff and Jennifer Koehl
- Kate Grubbs and Amanda Perez
- Heith Johnson and Ryan L. Drechsel
- Tyler LaCombe and Frank Lara
- Ryan Lopez and Alec Thompson
- Emilio Montalvo and Luis A. Sosa
- Aaron Paul and Beverly Sharp
- Andrew Phillips and Brendan Klar
- Owen Smith and Anita Perez
- E. White and Spencer Cox
- Collin Willeford and Kelly Braun
Smithson Valley High School Top 15 and Teacher Honorees
- Julio Avila and Nathan Nunley
- Kyle Bierman and Adelina Bierman
- Augustus Borchelt and Debora Parker
- Addison Coerver and Melanie Perez
- Ryder Garcia and Amy Gillespie
- Alexandra George and Mike Childress
- Alex Haider and Jonathan McKinley
- Katherine Hartanto and Holly Leach
- Jaia Kellett and Ainsley Ford
- Weston Packer and Dora Rodriguez
- Luke Schroeder and Michelle Koehl
- Luke Smith and Trenton Hall
- Summer Williams and Richard Chouinard
- Samual Wroblewski and Kesa Kemp
- Devin Zook and Mona Hopkins
25th Annual Jan Heckendorn Academic Recognition Banquet Photo Album
Photo description
-Two Comal ISD students received the Jan Heckendorn Memorial Scholarship during the 25th Annual Jan Heckendorn Academic Recognition Banquet in early May. Pictured from left is Jessica Wadle from Canyon Lake High School; Brooke Tooker, the daughter of Jan Heckendorn; John Heckendorn, Jan Heckendorn’s husband; and Alana Stanford from Davenport High School.