OFE News Release
Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence Announces 2010 Academic All-State Scholars
February 28, 2010
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence has announced the recipients of its prestigious 2010 Academic All-State Awards. These 100 top public high school seniors, selected from 621 nominations statewide, hail from 75 different schools in 68 Oklahoma school districts.
The 2010 Academic All-State Class is the 24th to be selected by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. Since the award program’s inception in 1987, some 2,400 high school seniors from 301 school districts have been named All-State scholars. Five Oklahoma high schools will celebrate their first Academic All-Stater, including Geronimo, Hardesty, Merritt, Southeast High School in Oklahoma City, and Seiling.
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 24th annual Academic Awards Banquet on Saturday, May 22, at the Renaissance Tulsa Hotel and Convention Center.
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, 44 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 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, as well as past Academic Awards Program honorees.
The Academic Awards Banquet is open to the public, with admission priced at $50. This year’s banquet will feature a keynote address by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian David McCullough. The awards ceremony will be televised statewide by OETA, the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 29. 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 has provided more than $3.6 million in scholarships and cash awards 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 100 Academic All-Staters are listed below by hometown and school. For more information on a particular student in your area, contact Brenda Wheelock at 405/236-0006.)
| All-Stater | Hometown | High School |
| Mr. David Roberson | Ada | Byng High School |
| Mr. Andrew Rathgeber | Alva | Alva High School |
| Ms. Kaitlyn Smith | Antlers | Antlers High School |
| Ms. Kristin Dao | Ardmore | Ardmore High School |
| Mr. Patrick McSweeney | Ardmore | Ardmore High School |
| Ms. Keely Thompson | Ardmore | Dickson High School |
| Mr. Michael Carpenter | Ardmore | Plainview High School |
| Mr. Nicholas Keleher | Bartlesville | Bartlesville High School |
| Mr. Daniel Sauceda | Bartlesville | Bartlesville High School |
| Ms. Christiana Hendrick | Bethany | Bethany High School |
| Mr. Zachary Eldredge | Bristow | Bristow High School |
| Ms. Anna Bennett | Broken Arrow | Broken Arrow High School |
| Ms. Jill Graves | Broken Arrow | Broken Arrow High School |
| Mr. Onkur Sen | Broken Arrow | Oklahoma School of Science & Mathematics |
| Ms. Ashlyn Choate | Broken Bow | Broken Bow High School |
| Ms. Erin Weese | Choctaw | Jones High School |
| Mr. Justin Roper | Choctaw | Carl Albert High School |
| Ms. Reagan Gill | Claremore | Claremore High School |
| Ms. Brooke Gunter | Claremore | Claremore High School |
| Ms. Cortlandt Sellers | Cleveland | Cleveland High School |
| Mr. David Davis III | Clinton | Clinton High School |
| Ms. Pattaranan Kiatsakdawong | Davis | Davis High School |
| Mr. Zachary McDonald | Duncan | Duncan High School |
| Mr. Benjamin Cassidy | Duncan | Oklahoma School of Science & Mathematics |
| Mr. Leighton Dilbeck | Edmond | Deer Creek High School |
| Mr. Zain Raza | Edmond | Edmond Memorial High School |
| Ms. Amanda Rice | Edmond | Edmond Memorial High School |
| Mr. Wenjia Xu | Edmond | Edmond Memorial High School |
| Ms. Jordan Hendricks | Edmond | Edmond North High School |
| Ms. Georgia Shelton | Edmond | Edmond North High School |
| Mr. Andrew Chandler | Edmond | Edmond Santa Fe High School |
| Mr. Lucas Swisher | Edmond | Edmond Santa Fe High School |
| Ms. Kendra Collins | El Reno | El Reno High School |
| Mr. Clayton Fuller | Elk City | Merritt High School |
| Ms. Chloe Fuksa | Enid | Chisholm High School |
| Ms. Alexandria Agee | Ft. Gibson | Ft. Gibson High School |
| Mr. Colby Gregg | Geronimo | Geronimo High School |
| Mr. Josh Fuller | Guthrie | Guthrie High School |
| Ms. Krysta Gilbert | Hardesty | Hardesty High School |
| Mr. Peter Van Gee | Hennessey | Hennessey High School |
| Mr. Jake Krieger | Hobart | Hobart High School |
| Mr. Justin Scarborough | Idabel | Idabel High School |
| Mr. Ora Douglas Hampshire | Inola | Inola High School |
| Ms. Valerie Gooden | Kingfisher | Kingfisher High School |
| Mr. Grannon Billingsley | Lawton | Cache High School |
| Mr. Ryan Yuyuenyongwatana | Lawton | Lawton High School |
| Ms. Abbee Cox | Lawton | MacArthur High School |
| Mr. John Christopher Cheaney | Martha | Altus High School |
| Mr. Johnie Hill | McLoud | McLoud High School |
| Mr. James Evan Fenska | Miami | Miami High School |
| Ms. Jordan Lemons | Midwest City | Choctaw High School |
| Mr. Victor Bui | Moore | Moore High School |
| Mr. Kyle Roeschley | Moore | Moore High School |
| Mr. Caleb St. Laurent | Moore | Westmoore High School |
| Mr. Bailey Bedford | Muldrow | Muldrow High School |
| Ms. Lisa Kriegh | Mustang | Mustang High School |
| Mr. Tiemo Landes | Norman | Norman High School |
| Mr. Jan Schlupp | Norman | Norman High School |
| Mr. William Berry | Norman | Norman North High School |
| Mr. Peter Luo | Norman | Oklahoma School of Science & Mathematics |
| Mr. Paul Inman | Okarche | Okarche High School |
| Mr. Austin Kipp | Oklahoma City | Carl Albert High School |
| Mr. Tobias Bothwell | Oklahoma City | Westmoore High School |
| Ms. Teresa Le | Oklahoma City | Westmoore High School |
| Ms. Quynh Phi | Oklahoma City | Southeast High School |
| Mr. Eric Ruhlmann | Oklahoma City | Putnam City High School |
| Mr. Wesley Thomas | Oklahoma City | Putnam City North High School |
| Mr. Hunter Aldridge | Okmulgee | Beggs High School |
| Mr. William Baysinger | Owasso | Owasso High School |
| Mr. Jesse Kovacs | Owasso | Owasso High School |
| Mr. Joshua Pauls | Ponca City | Ponca City High School |
| Ms. Kori Schultz | Pond Creek | Pond Creek-Hunter High School |
| Ms. Chelsey Stricklen | Pryor | Adair High School |
| Ms. Elizabeth St. John | Quapaw | Quapaw High School |
| Ms. Jade Edwards | Roland | Roland High School |
| Ms. Megan Crow | Sand Springs | Charles Page High School |
| Ms. Carmen Sander | Seiling | Seiling High School |
| Ms. Kendall Mills | Seminole | Seminole High School |
| Ms. Sammi Hembree | Shawnee | Dale High School |
| Mr. Kassidy Cook | Shawnee | Shawnee High School |
| Ms. Jennifer Jett | Shawnee | Shawnee High School |
| Mr. Irving Dai | Stillwater | Oklahoma School of Science & Mathematics |
| Mr. Ty Prather | Stillwater | Stillwater High School |
| Mr. Sheng Wu | Stillwater | Stillwater High School |
| Mr. Eric Gilbert | Stroud | Stroud High School |
| Ms. Maria Krug | Sulphur | Sulphur High School |
| Mr. Nicholas Barrs | Talihina | Talihina High School |
| Mr. Michael Lam | Tecumseh | Tecumseh High School |
| Ms. Jillian Lundie | Tulsa | Claremore High School |
| Ms. Tayler Brumble | Tulsa | Jenks High School |
| Ms. Lauren Foley | Tulsa | Jenks High School |
| Ms. Jessica Jackson | Tulsa | Jenks High School |
| Mr. Kevin Thomas | Tulsa | Jenks High School |
| Ms. Shiliang Zhang | Tulsa | Oklahoma School of Science & Mathematics |
| Mr. Richard Chyan | Tulsa | Booker T. Washington High School |
| Mr. Evan McElwain | Tulsa | Booker T. Washington High School |
| Mr. Jonathan Martell | Tulsa | Thomas A. Edison Preparatory High School |
| Mr. Matthew Butner | Vinita | Vinita High School |
| Ms. Charlotte Kirk | Westville | Westville High School |
| Ms. Chelsea Williams | Woodward | Woodward High School |