OFE News Release
Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence Announces 2006 Academic All-State Scholars
February 27, 2006
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence announced today the recipients of its prestigious 2006 Academic All-State Awards. These 100 top public high school seniors, selected from 594 nominations statewide, hail from 68 different schools in 64 Oklahoma school districts.
The 2006 Academic All-State Class is the 20th to be selected by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. Since the award program’s inception in 1987, some 2,000 high school seniors from 281 school districts have been named All-State scholars. Each of this year’s All-Staters will receive a $1,500 scholarship, a medallion and a commemorative plaque. The All-Staters will be recognized at the foundation’s 20th annual Academic Awards Banquet on Saturday, May 20, at the Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center in Tulsa.
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 33.0 on the ACT, with three recipients scoring a perfect 36. In addition, 57 of this year’s All-Staters are National Merit semifinalists, while two are National Hispanic semifinalists.
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 tickets priced at $40. The awards ceremony will be televised statewide by OETA, the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, at 8 p.m. May 27. For more information, call the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence office at (405) 236-0006 or visit its web site at www.ofe.org.
Founded in 1985, the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence is a statewide, non-profit organization dedicated to recognizing and encouraging academic excellence in Oklahoma’s public schools. Through its Academic Awards Program, the foundation provides more than $190,000 in scholarships and cash awards annually to honor outstanding graduating seniors as Academic All-Staters and exceptional educators as Medal for Excellence winners. Other foundation programs include a Local Education Foundation Outreach Program; Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute Fellowships and Electronic Field Trip subscriptions; teacher grants for professional development; and a statewide, school-based mentoring initiative.
(EDITORS: The 2006 Academic All-Staters are listed below by hometown and school. Students with an asterisk after their names have siblings who have been past All-Staters. For more information on a particular student in your area, contact Brenda Wheelock at 405/236-0006.)
All-Stater |
Hometown |
School |
| Ms. Calin Watt | Afton | Miami High School |
| Ms. Shannon Glenn | Altus | Navajo High School |
| Ms. Erin Johnson* | Altus | Altus High School |
| Ms. Chelsea Aldridge | Ardmore | Plainview High School |
| Ms. Erin Kesselhuth | Bartlesville | Bartlesville High School |
| Ms. Amber Loftis | Bartlesville | Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics |
| Ms. Kristen Secora | Bartlesville | Bartlesville High School |
| Mr. Austin Ford | Bethany | Bethany High School |
| Ms. Kathryn Anderson | Bixby | Bixby High School |
| Mr. Chris Schroeder | Bixby | Bixby High School |
| Mr. Matthew Whiteway | Bixby | Bixby High School |
| Ms. Amber Burke | Blanchard | Blanchard High School |
| Mr. Cory Giles | Broken Arrow | Broken Arrow High School |
| Mr. Jacob Lambert | Broken Arrow | Union High School |
| Mr. Gregory Lohrke | Broken Arrow | Broken Arrow High School |
| Mr. Joseph Kalka | Carney | Perkins-Tryon High School |
| Mr. Robert Clark | Claremore | Claremore High School |
| Mr. Patrick Greenburg | Claremore | Claremore High School |
| Ms. Dia St. John | Claremore | Claremore High School |
| Mr. Jordan Graft | Clinton | Clinton High School |
| Mr. Matthew Cox | Duncan | Duncan High School |
| Mr. Kyle Bonney | Edmond | Edmond Memorial High School |
| Mr. Phillip Bonney | Edmond | Edmond Memorial High School |
| Ms. Valerie Conrad* | Edmond | Edmond North High School |
| Mr. Chengrui Ding | Edmond | Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics |
| Mr. Jordan Kuehn | Edmond | Edmond Santa Fe High School |
| Ms. Leah Stein | Edmond | Classen School of Advanced Studies |
| Ms. Savannah Willson | Edmond | Edmond North High School |
| Mr. Kevin Winters | Edmond | Edmond Santa Fe High School |
| Ms. Anne Ezzell | Enid | Enid High School |
| Mr. Elijah Lavicky | Enid | Enid High School |
| Ms. Stephanie Wilburn | Fitzhugh | Latta High School |
| Ms. Rhoda Burnsed* | Fletcher | Fletcher High School |
| Ms. Shelby Latta | Gage | Gage High School |
| Ms. Rebecca Chain | Hunter | Pond Creek-Hunter High School |
| Ms. Kaylee McDaniel | Idabel | Idabel High School |
| Ms. Morgan Stevenson | Idabel | Haworth High School |
| Mr. Timothy Azevedo | Jenks | Jenks High School |
| Ms. Dana McBee | Laverne | Laverne High School |
| Ms. Nicole Cabalo | Lawton | Eisenhower High School |
| Ms. Nena Cavel | Lawton | MacArthur High School |
| Mr. Michael Coker | Lexington | Lexington High School |
| Ms. Jennifer Archer | Lindsay | Lindsay High School |
| Ms. Andrea Sellmeyer | McAlester | McAlester High School |
| Mr. Jason McCracken | Moore | Blanchard High School |
| Ms. Laura Bennett | Mounds | Mounds High School |
| Ms. Heather Merrill | Muldrow | Muldrow High School |
| Mr. Barry Bannon | Muskogee | Muskogee High School |
| Ms. Abigail Chaplin | Noble | Noble High School |
| Ms. Sravya Ennamuri | Norman | Norman High School |
| Mr. Roger Liao | Norman | Norman North High School |
| Ms. Yeganeh Torbati | Norman | Norman North High School |
| Mr. Matthew Lucas | Okemah | Okemah High School |
| Mr. Mark Deimund | Oklahoma City | Putnam City North High School |
| Mr. Isaac Freeman | Oklahoma City | Putnam City North High School |
| Ms. Amanda Higgins | Oklahoma City | Westmoore High School |
| Ms. Catalina Lupu | Oklahoma City | Classen School of Advanced Studies |
| Mr. John Postic | Oklahoma City | Westmoore High School |
| Mr. Richard Swearingen | Oklahoma City | Westmoore High School |
| Mr. Daniel Truong | Oklahoma City | Westmoore High School |
| Mr. Robert Hurt Jr. * | Okmulgee | Preston High School |
| Mr. Casey Davis | Oologah | Oologah High School |
| Mr. Casey Morris | Owasso | Owasso High School |
| Ms. Kathryn Oard | Piedmont | Piedmont High School |
| Ms. Mathavi Jothimurugesan | Ponca City | Ponca City High School |
| Mr. Morton Baker | Porum | Warner High School |
| Ms. Allison Bates | Pryor | Pryor High School |
| Mr. Shane Folks | Sallisaw | Sallisaw High School |
| Mr. Matthew Walker | Sand Springs | Sand Springs High School |
| Mr. John Williams | Seminole | Seminole High School |
| Mr. Nicolas Chancellor | Shawnee | Prague High School |
| Ms. Kristin Colman | Shawnee | Shawnee High School |
| Mr. Charles Lee III | Shawnee | Bethel High School |
| Ms. Clara Sanders | Shawnee | Shawnee High School |
| Ms. Taryn Tate | Shawnee | Shawnee High School |
| Ms. Emily Tonsfeldt | Stillwater | Stillwater High School |
| Ms. Julie Wright | Stillwater | Stillwater High School |
| Mr. Joseph McCarter | Tahlequah | Tahlequah High School |
| Ms. Kaitlin Butler | Tulsa | Booker T. Washington High School |
| Ms. Ripple Chokshi | Tulsa | Jenks High School |
| Ms. Courtney Clark | Tulsa | Bixby High School |
| Mr. Zachary Crane | Tulsa | Jenks High School |
| Mr. David Leimbach | Tulsa | Jenks High School |
| Mr. Daniel Reck | Tulsa | Broken Arrow High School |
| Mr. Caleb Rhoads | Tulsa | Booker T. Washington High School |
| Ms. Lauren Waelder | Tulsa | Jenks High School |
| Mr. John Williamson | Tulsa | Jenks High School |
| Mr. Nathan Holliday | Tuttle | Tuttle High School |
| Mr. Nicholas Peoples | Vian | Vian High School |
| Mr. Joseph Tucker | Wagoner | Wagoner High School |
| Ms. Kelsey Gose | Watonga | Watonga High School |
| Ms. Stacey Brandhorst | Weatherford | Weatherford High School |
| Ms. Krysten Thiessen* | Weatherford | Weatherford High School |
| Mr. Adam Bevelhymer | Wewoka | New Lima High School |
| Ms. Rachael Johnston | Wichita | Mustang High School |
| Ms. Cassidy Bennett | Woodward | Woodward High School |
| Mr. Jared Crain | Woodward | Fargo High School |
| Mr. Tyson Miller | Woodward | Woodward High School |
| Mr. Scott Cornaby | Yukon | Mustang High School |
| Mr. Benjamin McKinney | Yukon | Yukon High School |
*indicates the 2006 All-State Scholar is the sibling of a previous winner.