District 196 Students Just Won World and National Honors — Meet Them
TLDR
Eagan's Jonathan Rubin placed 1st in the world in epidemiology at HOSA.
Eastview's Kingston Luu-Nguyen placed 6th in the world in healthy living.
Apple Valley sophomore Anisah Somerville finished top six in the nation in speech.
Four students were FCCLA national finalists, and Eastview's Mia Battistone is a regional Teacher of the Year.
The District 196 school board meeting on August 10 turned into a celebration. One after another, students and staff walked up to the podium to be honored. And these weren't small wins. We're talking world and national titles. Here's who made the district proud.
First and Sixth in the World
The night opened with HOSA — a student-led club for kids exploring health and medical careers. Eastview adviser Todd Brewer and district HOSA president Gavin Yang shared the numbers. This year, over 15,000 students competed at the HOSA International Leadership Conference, which marked the group's 50th anniversary. District 196 sent 150 kids to the state conference, brought home more than 40 medals, and had 36 members qualify for the world stage.
Two of them stood out. Kingston Luu-Nguyen, a rising junior at Eastview, placed 6th in the world in the healthy living event. He got there on a deep passion for nutrition and wellness. Then Jonathan Rubin, a rising senior at Eagan High School, placed 1st in the world in epidemiology — the study of how diseases spread. He's loved the subject since he was a freshman. First place on the whole planet. Not bad for a summer.
A Sophomore in the Top 0.1%
Next up was Apple Valley High School's speech team. Coach introduced sophomore Anisah Somerville, and then put her win in perspective. The national speech tournament pulls from more than 140,000 eligible students. Only about 7,000 make it, from around 1,500 schools. Anisah didn't just qualify — she placed in the top six in the nation in informative speaking. That's the top one-tenth of one percent.
Her speech? It was about "algospeak" — the coded words people use online so their posts don't get removed or hidden by algorithms. She's now ranked 8th in Minnesota and top 50 nationally in informative speaking. "We have not seen the end of Anisah," her coach said. Anisah already qualified for next summer's national tournament. As a sophomore.
More Wins: FCCLA Finalists and a Teacher of the Year
Superintendent Michael Bolsoni added two more shout-outs. Four D196 students earned national finalist honors at the FCCLA national leadership conference in Washington, D.C. FCCLA stands for Family, Career and Community Leaders of America. Getting to nationals takes months of work.
And the staff got love too. Eastview High School teacher Mia Battistone was named Region 3 Teacher of the Year by the Association for Career and Technical Education. That makes her a national finalist for the same award. If you want to see how D196 keeps stacking up, you can read our full August 10 school board recap, and there's more good local news like Taste of Lakeville and the free Live at the Lake concerts.
The Bottom Line
These wins didn't happen by accident. Behind each one is a club, a coach, and a lot of practice. If your kid is curious about health careers, public speaking, or leadership, ask their school about HOSA, speech and debate, or FCCLA. The clubs are open, and as this meeting showed, D196 kids can go all the way to the top. You can learn more about the district's programs on the D196 website.
