15 Dedicated Students Recognized for Outstanding Academic Success

BOSTON – Global learning company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) today announced the 15 student recipients of the 2017 180 Student Awards. With the support of their dedicated teachers, these remarkable students made significant gains in their reading and math achievement using READ 180, MATH 180 and System 44, blended learning intervention programs that use adaptive technology to personalize student instruction.

Now in their eleventh year, the 180 Student Awards honor young learners who have overcome personal and academic challenges, such as learning disabilities, heath issues or language barriers, to achieve success in the classroom, and ultimately pave the way to college and career readiness.

“We are honored to recognize the inspiring 2017 180 Student Award winners, who have made it their mission to overcome obstacles and become passionate and thriving learners,” said Nicole Foster, Vice President, Intervention Solutions at HMH. “We applaud each student for their perseverance, as well as their educators for their commitment to ensuring their students succeed in school and life.”

An HMH committee carefully selected each award winner based on several factors, including teacher recommendations, student statements and data demonstrating reading or math growth according to the Lexile™ or Quantile™ framework. Each winner will receive a cash prize, and the student’s school district will receive HMH educational materials.

The 2017 180 Student Award winners are:

For READ 180:

• Serenity Steele, Grade 4, Cecil Floyd Elementary School, Joplin, Missouri
• Ninel Marcos Lara, Grade 5, Glyndale Elementary School, Brunswick, Georgia
• Meleny Cedillo, Grade 6, Bryant Elementary School, Arlington, Texas
• Adama Bah, Grade 7, Hyde Leadership Charter School, New York, New York
• Za’Kwon Bowens, Grade 8, St. Stephen Middle School, Saint Stephen, South Carolina
• Natalie Cowell, Grade 8, Anderson Junior High School, Chandler, Arizona
• Cahrin Donald, Grade 12, Elyria High school, Elyria, Ohio
• Xavier Pena, Grade 12, Mineral Wells High School, Mineral Wells, Texas
• Nooralhuda Witwit, Grade 12, Grace M. Davis High School, Modesto, California

For MATH 180:

• Brooklyn Ramirez, Grade 5, Buchanan Elementary School, Murrieta, California
• Trevon Walker, Grade 6, Gillette Road Middle School, Cicero, New York
• Unique Eberhardt, Grade 8, Langley Middle School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

For System 44:

• Layla Hummings, Grade 3, Dowell Elementary School, Marietta, Georgia
• Kaitlyn Llanez, Grade 6, Spc. Rafael Hernando Middle School, El Paso, Texas
• Lance Sigmon, Grade 7, Clover Middle School, Clover, South Carolina

To learn more about the 15 2017 180 Student Award winners, please visit the READ 180 Community page.

About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (NASDAQ: HMHC) is a global learning company dedicated to changing people’s lives by fostering passionate, curious learners. As a leading provider of pre-K–12 education content, services and cutting-edge technology solutions across a variety of media, HMH enables learning in a changing landscape. HMH is uniquely positioned to create engaging and effective educational content and experiences from early childhood to beyond the classroom. HMH serves more than 50 million students in over 150 countries worldwide, while its award-winning children's books, novels, non-fiction and reference titles are enjoyed by readers throughout the world. For more information, visit www.hmhco.com.

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