Academic All-State Scholars
The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence has announced the recipients of its prestigious 2013 Academic All-State Awards. These 100 top public high school seniors, selected from 599 nominations statewide, hail from 80 different schools in 73 Oklahoma school districts.
The 2013 Academic All-State Class is the 27th to be selected by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. Since the award program’s inception in 1987, some 2,700 high school seniors from 313 school districts have been named All-State scholars. Four Oklahoma high schools will celebrate their first Academic All-Stater, including Afton, Dewar, Oklahoma City’s Santa Fe Charter and Verdigris.
Each of this year’s All-Staters will receive a $1,000 merit-based scholarship and a medallion. The All-Staters will be recognized at the foundation’s 27th annual Academic Awards Banquet on Saturday, May 18, at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City. The featured keynote speaker for the banquet will be Thomas L. Friedman, journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
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 1340; 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 33 on the ACT, with six recipients scoring a perfect 36. In addition, 40 of this year’s All-Staters are National Merit semifinalists, while one is a National Hispanic Scholar.
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 retired Tulsa attorney Teresa B. Adwan, works independently of all other foundation activities. The committee members are a diverse group of business, education and civic leaders, as well as past Academic Awards Program honorees.
| All-Stater | Hometown | High School |
| Mr. Daniel McClain | Ada | Byng HS |
| Ms. Lindsey Wengerd | Adair | Adair HS |
| Mr. Austin Johnson | Afton | Afton HS |
| Mr. Derek Lehman | Antlers | Antlers HS |
| Ms. Anna Haas | Ardmore | Plainview HS |
| Ms. Nicole Biddinger | Bartlesville | Bartlesville HS |
| Ms. Christy Jenkins | Beggs | Beggs HS |
| Ms. Erin Peterson | Bixby | Bixby HS |
| Mr. Hunter Stryke | Bristow | Bristow HS |
| Ms. Marissa Griffin | Broken Arrow | Broken Arrow HS |
| Mr. Thomas Littlejohn | Broken Arrow | Coweta HS |
| Mr. Connor Sell | Broken Arrow | Oklahoma School of Science & Mathematics |
| Ms. Natalie Santa-Pinter | Choctaw | Choctaw HS |
| Ms. Bailey Wilton | Claremore | Claremore HS |
| Ms. Savannah Manning | Claremore | Verdigris HS |
| Mr. Jacob Resendez | Clinton | Clinton HS |
| Ms. Merrisa Jennings | Collinsville | Collinsville HS |
| Ms. Mariah Burris | Cushing | Cushing HS |
| Ms. Katy Layman | Dewey | Bartlesville HS |
| Mr. Suparshva Parikh | Durant | Durant HS |
| Ms. Annah Baykal | Edmond | Edmond Memorial HS |
| Ms. Carrie Funderburk* | Edmond | Edmond North HS |
| Mr. Rashidul Esrar | Edmond | Edmond Santa Fe HS |
| Ms. Julia Zhu | Edmond | Edmond Santa Fe HS |
| Ms. Maria Torres | Enid | Chisholm HS |
| Ms. Holly Stuart | Enid | Enid HS |
| Mr. Nicholas Denker* | Enid | Pioneer HS |
| Mr. Luke Fletcher | Fletcher | Fletcher HS |
| Mr. Benjamin Wallace | Fort Gibson | Fort Gibson HS |
| Mr. James Camden Martin | Garvin | Idabel HS |
| Mr. Chance Upshaw | Henryetta | Dewar HS |
| Mr. Hunter Chalfant | Hinton | Hinton HS |
| Mr. Kyle Price | Idabel | Haworth HS |
| Mr. William Turnage | Idabel | Idabel HS |
| Mr. Grant Newton | Kingfisher | Kingfisher HS |
| Ms. Bianca Prentiss | Lawton | Cache HS |
| Ms. Victoria Boudiette | Lawton | Eisenhower HS |
| Mr. Michael Felder* | Lawton | Eisenhower HS |
| Mr. Pryce Michener | Lawton | Lawton HS |
| Mr. Grant Coles | Lindsay | Lindsay HS |
| Mr. Jordan Van Buskirk | Marlow | Marlow HS |
| Ms. Kelsey Roberson | McAlester | McAlester HS |
| Mr. Bolton Ferda | Medford | Blackwell HS |
| Mr. Connor Cusack | Meno | Fairview HS |
| Ms. Hunter Burrow | Miami | Miami HS |
| Mr. Derek Moates | Moore | Moore HS |
| Ms. Melissa Chanderban | Muldrow | Muldrow HS |
| Mr. Dalton Wyers | Muldrow | Roland HS |
| Mr. Alexander Richter | Muskogee | Hilldale HS |
| Mr. Dylan Oney | Muskogee | Muskogee HS |
| Ms. Emma Gade | Norman | Noble HS |
| Ms. Emily Frech | Norman | Norman HS |
| Mr. Jeffrey Terry | Norman | Norman HS |
| Mr. Amrith Ramkumar | Norman | Norman North HS |
| Mr. Alexander Zhu | Norman | Norman North HS |
| Mr. Jimmy Wu | Norman | Oklahoma School of Science & Mathematics |
| Mr. Vincent Tang | Oklahoma City | Deer Creek HS |
| Ms. Madison White | Oklahoma City | Edmond Memorial HS |
| Mr. Dallas Milligan | Oklahoma City | Westmoore HS |
| Ms. Christine Nguyen | Oklahoma City | Westmoore HS |
| Mr. Dae-Kun Heo | Oklahoma City | Mustang HS |
| Mr. Ernesto Vargas | Oklahoma City | ASTEC Charter HS |
| Mr. Jared Ontko | Oklahoma City | Classen School of Advanced Studies |
| Mr. Nicholas Garcia | Oklahoma City | Santa Fe South Charter HS |
| Ms. Taylor Woodard | Oklahoma City | Putnam City HS |
| Ms. Magen Eissenstat | Oklahoma City | Putnam City North HS |
| Mr. Tyler Watson | Oklahoma City | Putnam City North HS |
| Mr. Grant Guzman | Oklahoma City | Western Heights HS |
| Mr. Luke Stringer* | Oologah | Oologah-Talala HS |
| Mr. Tanner Miller | Orlando | Mulhall-Orlando HS |
| Mr. Kameron McCombs | Owasso | Owasso HS |
| Mr. Hunter Edwards | Piedmont | Piedmont HS |
| Mr. Christopher Jeng | Ponca City | Oklahoma School of Science & Mathematics |
| Mr. Tyler White | Poteau | Poteau HS |
| Ms. Raychel Kozik | Purcell | Washington HS |
| Ms. Julia Lindsay | Shawnee | Bethel HS |
| Mr. Corey Hembree* | Shawnee | Dale HS |
| Ms. Annica Houston | Shawnee | Shawnee HS |
| Ms. Damaila Young | Shawnee | Shawnee HS |
| Ms. Kristina Hill | Snyder | Snyder HS |
| Ms. Sarah Anderson | Spencer | Jones HS |
| Ms. Bonnie James | Sperry | Skiatook HS |
| Mr. Nikhil Kamath* | Stillwater | Stillwater HS |
| Ms. Tierani Richardson | Sulphur | Sulphur HS |
| Ms. Macy Muirhead | Tecumseh | Tecumseh HS |
| Mr. Garet Crispin | Thomas | Thomas-Fay-Custer HS |
| Ms. Aryn Kitchell | Tonkawa | Tonkawa HS |
| Mr. David Dolan | Tulsa | Berryhill HS |
| Ms. Angela Chang | Tulsa | Jenks HS |
| Ms. Jolee Potts | Tulsa | Jenks HS |
| Ms. Samantha Rogers | Tulsa | Jenks HS |
| Mr. Jack Schaefer | Tulsa | Booker T. Washington HS |
| Ms. Rachel Stromberg | Tulsa | Booker T. Washington HS |
| Ms. Sarah Wymer | Tulsa | Union HS |
| Mr. William Gardner | Warner | Warner HS |
| Ms. Emily Frantz | Warr Acres | Bethany HS |
| Ms. Ashtyn Widney | Watonga | Watonga HS |
| Mr. Tanner Boyd | Weatherford | Weatherford HS |
| Ms. Sierra White | Woodward | Woodward HS |
| Ms. Beverly Case | Yukon | Yukon HS |
*Indicates the All-State Scholar is the sibling of a previous winner.