OFE News Release
Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence Announces 2007 Academic All-State Scholars
February 25, 2007
OKLAHOMA CITY --
The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence announced today the recipients of its prestigious 2007 Academic All-State Awards. These 100 top public high school seniors, selected from 544 nominations statewide, hail from 74 different schools in 67 Oklahoma school districts.
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.
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 2007 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 | High School |
| Mr. Quaid Johns | Ada | Ada High School |
| Ms. Kaitlin Kruse | Adair | Adair High School |
| Ms. Deidra Bright | Arapaho | Arapaho High School |
| Mr. Koby Hunter | Ardmore | Lone Grove High School |
| Mr. Michael Watson | Ardmore | Ardmore High School |
| Ms. Chelsea Word | Arnett | Arnett High School |
| Ms. Kayla Ewert | Bartlesville | Bartlesville High School |
| Mr. Sean Keller* | Bartlesville | Bartlesville High School |
| Ms. Andrea Bryan | Bethany | Putnam City West High School |
| Mr. Austin Slaymaker | Blanchard | Blanchard High School |
| Ms. Summer James | Boise City | Boise City High School |
| Ms. Meghan Leibold | Broken Arrow | Broken Arrow High School |
| Ms. Shayla Burnett | Cache | Cache High School |
| Mr. Logan Jones* | Cache | Cache High School |
| Mr. Garrett Rosser | Checotah | Checotah High School |
| Ms. Katherine Rhine | Claremore | Claremore High School |
| Mr. Kolton Barnes | Comanche | Comanche High School |
| Mr. Brodie Montgomery | Comanche | Comanche High School |
| Ms. Kristen Osiek | Cushing | Cushing High School |
| Mr. Michael Henderson | Dale | Oklahoma School of Science & Mathematics |
| Mr. Jesse Cruce | Dewey | Dewey High School |
| Mr. Matthew Frost | Duncan | Duncan High School |
| Ms. Traci Cates | Edmond | Edmond Memorial High School |
| Mr. Andrew Crawford | Edmond | Edmond North High School |
| Ms. Emily Drevets | Edmond | Edmond North High School |
| Mr. Taylor Huff | Edmond | Edmond North High School |
| Ms. Allison Lyons | Edmond | Edmond North High School |
| Ms. Jessica Mackiewicz | Edmond | Deer Creek High School |
| Ms. Chenxi Nie | Edmond | Edmond Santa Fe High School |
| Mr. Samuel Scharff | Edmond | Edmond Memorial High School |
| Ms. Kara Tobey | Edmond | Edmond Memorial High School |
| Mr. Nicholas Brown | El Reno | El Reno High School |
| Mr. Cody Piersall | El Reno | El Reno High School |
| Ms. Hannah Denker | Enid | Pioneer High School |
| Ms. Sydney Vanhooser | Enid | Enid High School |
| Mr. Logan Neufeld | Fairview | Fairview High School |
| Ms. Amy Myers | Fletcher | Fletcher High School |
| Ms. Haley Cosner | Gans | Roland High School |
| Ms. Katherine Knutter | Healdton | Healdton High School |
| Mr. Sean Fuller | Isabella | Okeene High School |
| Ms. Kelsey Murray | Jones | Edmond Memorial High School |
| Ms. Jamie Quitoriano | Kingfisher | Kingfisher High School |
| Ms. Jamie Brown | Laverne | Laverne High School |
| Ms. Victoria Felder | Lawton | Eisenhower High School |
| Mr. Scott Sheppard | Lawton | Eisenhower High School |
| Ms. Amy Stinnett | Lindsay | Lindsay High School |
| Ms. Jamie Pelfrey | Maysville | Maysville High School |
| Mr. Adam Gronwald | McAlester | McAlester High School |
| Mr. Matthew Creech* | Miami | Miami High School |
| Mr. Taymoor Pilehvar | Midwest City | Carl Albert High School |
| Mr. Christopher Trulock | Midwest City | Midwest City High School |
| Ms. Rebecca Bedford | Muldrow | Muldrow High School |
| Ms. Danielle Powell | Muldrow | Muldrow High School |
| Ms. Reagan Haas | Muskogee | Muskogee High School |
| Mr. William Alexander Croll | Nichols Hills | Classen School of Advanced Studies |
| Ms. Negin Allamehzadeh | Norman | Norman North High School |
| Mr. Arya Azma | Norman | Norman High School |
| Mr. John Romanishin | Norman | Norman High School |
| Mr. Matthew Deimund* | Oklahoma City | Putnam City North High School |
| Ms. Leah Henry | Oklahoma City | Shawnee High School |
| Ms. Mary Masterman | Oklahoma City | Westmoore High School |
| Ms. Krystal Roush | Oklahoma City | Westmoore High School |
| Mr. Jackson Turner | Oklahoma City | Putnam City West High School |
| Ms. Ellen Olivia Jones | Pauls Valley | Pauls Valley High School |
| Mr. Ry Fleming | Perry | Perry High School |
| Mr. Zach Blankenship | Piedmont | Piedmont High School |
| Mr. Vasiliy Mayer | Ponca City | Ponca City High School |
| Mr. Ibrahim Mohedas | Ponca City | Ponca City High School |
| Mr. Dylan Powell | Ponca City | Ponca City High School |
| Mr. Aaron Tyler Van Arsdale | Ponca City | Ponca City High School |
| Ms. Zhu Wang | Ponca City | Oklahoma School of Science & Mathematics |
| Ms. Betsy Riley | Poteau | Poteau High School |
| Mr. Rex Bair | Pryor | Pryor High School |
| Ms. Krystal Krug | Rush Springs | Lindsay High School |
| Mr. Casey Weaver | Sallisaw | Sallisaw High School |
| Mr. Jon Hollen | Sand Springs | Charles Page High School |
| Ms. Laramy Edwards | Sayre | Sayre High School |
| Ms. Amalia Deines | Shattuck | Shattuck High School |
| Mr. Kenneth Whitmore | Shawnee | Shawnee High School |
| Mr. Ryan Atkins | Stillwater | Perkins-Tryon High School |
| Ms. Shirley Duan | Stillwater | Stillwater High School |
| Ms. Hillary Wiener | Stillwater | Stillwater High School |
| Ms. Jing Yan | Stillwater | Stillwater High School |
| Ms. Megan Prescott | Stonewall | Byng High School |
| Mr. Preston Seaberg | Tecumseh | Tecumseh High School |
| Ms. Paula Smithheisler | Tonkawa | Tonkawa High School |
| Ms. Kelly Anderson | Tulsa | Union High School |
| Ms. Kaylee Davis-Maddy | Tulsa | Tulsa Memorial High School |
| Ms. Janet Ferrell | Tulsa | Jenks High School |
| Mr. Collin Kent* | Tulsa | Booker T. Washington High School |
| Ms. Emily Singletary* | Tulsa | Jenks High School |
| Mr. Ryan Thomas | Tulsa | Tulsa School of Arts & Sciences |
| Ms. Rebecca Walker | Tulsa | Booker T. Washington High School |
| Ms. Tiffany Foster | Tuttle | Tuttle High School |
| Mr. Justin Cockrell | Warner | Warner High School |
| Mr. Robert Hayes | Warner | Warner High School |
| Mr. Frank Lezu | Weatherford | Weatherford High School |
| Ms. Jenna Butner | Wewoka | Seminole High School |
| Mr. Jonathan Mani | Yukon | Mustang High School |
| Ms. Cassandra Mickelson | Yukon | Yukon High School |