Diverse class of Houston-area students lead National Signing Day

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Houston-area students in a variety of sports are being celebrated as they sign their letters of intent Wednesday, which is National Signing Day.

A first round of signings for high school football stars happened back in December.

Now even more students are heading for college, and ABC13 is proud to share their journeys.

That includes athletes going Ivy League and a Katy High School baseball star who is the son of a fallen HPD officer. His family in blue and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick will attend his signing.

There are countless students who are deserving of this hard-earned moment.

The days activities began at 10:30 a.m. at Dekaney High School. You can watch highlights from the promising young stars here.

Meet the promising young high school stars at Dekaney, who are ready to change the game and their lives.

Next up, Alief Taylor High School continued its tradition of excellence as several members of the football team signed their letters of intent. Watch the signings below.

The tradition continues! These Alief Taylor Lions are college-bound! Watch their signings above.

The action continued with C.E. King High School's Kameron Kincheon. The quarterback is in the top 10% of his class and officially signed with the United States Merchant Marine Academy. Kameron's father has always stressed the importance of academics. Follow this ABC13 story for more on this young football star's dreams and how he became a student pilot.

'I want greatness' Kameron Kincheon has no limit to his ambition | Watch interview

'I want greatness.' Kameron Kincheon is in the top 10% of his class and hopes to go into naval aviation. Listen to more of his interview after signing with United States Merchant Marine Academy.

Cy-Fair High School's LJ Johnson: He is one of the best unsigned running backs in the nation and on Wednesday afternoon, he officially committed to Texas A&M University.

"I went to the camp a couple of years ago and I enjoyed it ... seeing their offense and running backs and what they've done, I thought it was a great fit for me," said Johnson.

North Shore High School was also in the spotlight.

Watch as Galena Park ISD's North Shore High School hosts its signing day ceremony, which went virtual this year due to the pandemic.

At Morton Ranch High School, 6'6" offensive lineman Aaron Session signed with Yale. Aaron is all about family. He was raised by his mom, who has instilled in him since kindergarten the importance of education, and has two younger siblings, a brother, and a sister, who has autism.

6'6" offensive lineman at Morton Ranch off to Ivy Leagues

"I feel amazing," said Aaron Session shortly after signing the dotted line on Wednesday. "This is one of the greatest days of my life. I'm so excited to say I'm a Yale bulldog."

HISD also hosted a virtual signing day sessions for students who compete in basketball, soccer, baseball, football, swimming, tennis, track and field, water polo, golf, softball, cross country, and wrestling.

More than 80 athletes signed commitments including:

• Elijah Lawrence, Bellaire High School, Rice University, basketball

• Jacoby Boykins, Lamar High School, University of Alabama, football

• Ana Aguirre, Lamar High School, University of Virginia, swimming

• Gracelyn Alvarez, Heights High School, UT El Paso, basketball

Spencer Tillman, a former Houston Oiler, NFL and college football analyst and businessman, spoke at the event.

Katy High School's Tyler Martin: National Signing Day is always special, but for Tyler, he had the support of his law enforcement family. Tyler is the son of 47-year-old HPD officer Richard Martin, who was killed in 2015. Martin was setting out spike strips when a chase suspect intentionally ran over him. Tyler was just 11 years old at the time.

Martin worked out of westside command on Dairy Ashford. That's the same place that Tyler signed his letter of intent to attend the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor. He was joined by officers as well as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has been close to Tyler since 2015.

More on Tyler Martin's story

Tyler Martin is set to continue the next part of his journey in education and sports, and his HPD family will be right there with him. Hit play for more on this special story.

In the days and years following his father's death, Tyler has been supported by law enforcement. They attended his little league game two days after Officer Martin died, and HPD went on to throw him a birthday party. Tyler was also able to throw the first pitch at an Astros game in 2015.

Now he is making his next move to college.

Late HPD officer's son is now a baseball star

ABC13 was able to witness an inspiring show of support for one baseball standout who lost his father in the line of duty. ABC13's Jessica Willey shares his story.