Area scholars named all-state

February 27, 2007 03:38 pm

— OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence has announced the recipients of its prestigious 2007 Academic All-State Awards, which includes a handful from the Garvin County area.
These 100 top public high school seniors, selected from 544 nominations statewide, hail from 74 different schools in 67 Oklahoma school districts.
Named to the list from Pauls Valley High School was Ellen Olivia Jones.
Lindsay High School students earning the honor were Amy Stinnett and Krystal Krug, who also lists Rush Springs as her hometown.
Jamie Pelfrey of Maysville High School rounded out the all-staters from the county.
The 2007 Academic All-State Class is the 21st to be selected by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence.
Since the award program’s inception in 1987, some 2,100 high school seniors from 284 school districts have been named All-State scholars.
Each of this year’s All-Staters will receive a $1,500 scholarship and a medallion. The All-Staters will be recognized at the foundation’s 21st annual Academic Awards Banquet on Saturday, May 19, at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City.
David L. Boren, chairman and founder of the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, describes the selection of the scholars as “Oklahoma’s most rigorous academic competition.”
To be nominated for Academic All-State, students must meet one of the following criteria: an American College Test (ACT) composite score of at least 30; a Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) combined critical reading and math score of at least 1350; or be selected as a semi-finalist for a National Merit, National Achievement or National Hispanic Scholarship.
This year’s All-Staters scored an average of 32.9 on the ACT, with three recipients scoring a perfect 36. In addition, 44 of this year’s All-Staters are National Merit semifinalists, while one is a National Hispanic semifinalist and one is a National Achievement semifinalist.
Academic All-Staters are nominated by their principals or superintendents and are selected on the basis of academic achievement, extracurricular activities and community involvement, as well as an essay submitted by each nominee.
The selection committee, which is chaired by Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Marian P. Opala, works independently of all other foundation activities.
The committee members are a diverse group of business, education and civic leaders. Academic All-State alumni and former Medal for Excellence winners also sit on the selection committee.
The Academic Awards Banquet is open to the public, with admission priced at $50. This year’s event will feature a keynote address by Brown University President Ruth Simmons.
The first African-American and first woman to serve as president of an Ivy League university, Simmons has been recognized as an outstanding administrator, scholar and humanitarian.
The awards ceremony will be televised statewide by OETA, the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 26. For more information, call the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence office at (405) 236-0006 or visit its web site at www.ofe.org.

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