"Outstanding" Juniors Recognized as Superintendent's Key Scholars

Sign up for the Woodstock-Towne Lake Patch newsletter!

---

WOODSTOCK, GA -- The Cherokee County School District annually recognizes outstanding high school juniors as Superintendent's Key Scholars, and a record number of students earned the distinction this year by scoring at the 90th percentile or above on the Grade 11 PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

During the 11th Annual Superintendent's Key Scholar Recognition Ceremony held on Tuesday, March 22, at River Ridge High School, 327 students were recognized for their PSAT scores achieved in October, which ranked them in the top 10% of the nation.

Each student received a letter jacket patch that reads "Superintendent's Key Scholar" and will also be honored at their school's year-end awards ceremony as a Key Scholar. These students also will have a special embossment on their high school diploma.

"As academic leaders, you have the potential to continue distinguishing yourselves as high school seniors, in your college pursuits and, eventually, in your chosen careers," said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian Hightower in his remarks to the students. "We also extend our congratulations this evening to all of the individuals who stand behind and support their efforts, including: parents, grandparents, teachers, school administrators and all others who have made and continue to make an impact on their education and their lives."

The Key Scholar Program is a districtwide academic recognition plan that begins in elementary schools with students qualifying for the nationally recognized Duke University Talent Identification Program (or TIP) in Grades 4 or 5 by achieving exceptional scores on either the Cognitive Abilities Test or the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills.

At the middle school level, the Key Scholars Program also includes Duke's TIP, through which eligible students have the opportunity to get a head start on SATand ACT testing, which usually does not begin until high school. Seventh-grade students participate in this nationally standardized testing, with many receiving State Recognition; and they are also recognized at a School Board meeting and at a special Duke University ceremony in Atlanta.

For high school students, the Key Scholar Program focuses on the Preliminary SAT (or PSAT). Freshmen scoring at the 80th percentile or above on the PSAT receive a Certificate of Achievement at their school's year-end awards ceremonies. Sophomores scoring at the 85th percentile or above on the PSAT receive a Certificate of Achievement at their school's year-end awards ceremonies. The top award in the Key Scholar Program goes to seniors who qualify as National Merit Scholars. Over the past 11 years, these academically outstanding students have led their classes as they marched across the stage at graduation wearing a special gold medallion.

The recognition ceremony on Tuesday evening also featured a performance by River Ridge choral students, the presentation of colors by the River Ridge HS Air Force Junior ROTC and remarks by School Board Chair Kyla Cromer.

Students recognized were:

Cherokee High School: Brittany Adam, Aaron Albright, Gabrielle Beck, Michael Bilyy, Lauren Cheek, Frank Chin, David Clark, Nolan Donley, Jodi Dowis, Brandon Evans, Lindsey Gay, Job George, Cassidy Hannon, Alexander Harp, Andrew Hodkoski, Alexandra Hofstetter, Benjamin Hultquist, Melany Izaguirre, Sarah Johnson, Grace Kim, Julia Kochansky, Thomas Landman, Darren Lausier, John Luis, William Maurer, Whitney McEntyre, Madison Melzer, James Milholland, Samuel Mourafetis, Jarod O'Meara, Gabrielle Peterson, Kalan Pindera, Emily Pope, Mark Radchuk, Tess Reboucas, Joshua Richardson, Madeline Rohrer, Eric Samuels, Brianne Schultz, Pragya Sharma, Zachary Sloan, Nicole Tjim, Angela Tolbert, Matthew Wareham, Megan Waterbor and Makaila Wood.

Creekview High School: Kenyon Bixbyr, Trenton Carrere, Ryan Chiavelli, Scott Chipman, Gavin GaDylan Giuliano, Mark Goodwin, Austin Griffin, Kelly Hart, Emma Holcomb, Grant Howell, Mariah Johnson, Nicholas Killen, Maximillio Kitchen, Haley Kreh, Zoe Lumpkin, Grace Maavere, Connor Manzer, Ronald Marble, Conner McCann, Kayla McCloud, Michelle McCord, Joshua McFarlin, Parker McMahan, John Miles, Caitlin Moak, Matthew Motika, William Oswald, James Pace, Kelley Plamp, Joshua Potter, Anthony Puhalovich, Parker Quarles, Alexander Roman, Haleigh Streak, Jasper Thibault, Robin Wells and Zachary Williams.

Etowah High School: Patrick Allen, Annalea Anderson, Zachary Archer, Brandon Baker, Sarah Kate Billings, Gideon Boyington, Ashlynn Brown, David Brown, Morgan Collins, Nicholas Cooke, Dylan Crawford, Peyton Davis, Irene Dong, Morgan Dozier, Kelsey Durick, Lauren Elledge, Samantha Estep, Spencer Folsom, Aubrey Gerber, Mallory Gilmer, Danielle Goold, Nathan Gresham, Emily Guebert, Victoria Heck, Meghan Hines, Austin Holly, Cammie Hopkins, Yasmeen Ismail, Kaylin Jackson, Jakob Johnson, Kaitlyn Jones, Mark Krug, Robert Kutschke, Reese Lavery, Chloe Lee, Miranda Lehman, Zachary Machado, Sindhu Manivannan, Tyler Manuel, James McCoy, Peter McFarlane, Amber McPherson, Minnie Mitchell, Austin Mongold, Francis Mukoma, Daniel Mulloy, Jenna Murnan, Kenneth Nash, Chunwing Ng, Caitlyn Pallas, Ariel Pippin, Taylor Powell, Madison Puccio, Andrea Quero, Julia Reidy, Matthew Ridgeway, Ryan Shillcutt, Miles Shoemaker, Emily Silver, Brandon Stayton, Austin Stephan, Olivia Stephenson, Claire Strickland, Madison Tipton, Kyle Turbyfield, Sydney Wakeford, Patrick Walker, Mackenzie Walsh, Benjamin Weiss, Erik Weltz, Tony Wineman and Michael Wrobel

River Ridge High School: Jessica Abdalla, Temiloluwa Adekunle, Tanner Amason, Lauren Andersen, Skyeler Baxter, Brian Biddiscombe, Taylor Boardman, Adeline Boswell, Ashley Broady, Jackson Burke, James Burke, George Curtis, Katherine Eritano, Ariana Fonzo, Emily Gardner, Joshua Gilmer, Nicole Hammond, Margaret Harrington, Samuel Hicks, Tiana Hom, Joshua Isaksen, Isabelle Janda, Courtney Jones, Cassidy Kantoris, Jordan Mason, Emma Mason, Alexander McMath, Kyle Mohundro, Emily Moore, David Neubauer, Thao Ngo, Towfigh Noparast, Jose Noriega, Callie O'Bryant, Somadina Okezie-Okeke, Jared Ownby, Tej Patel, Anabelle Paulino, Dawson Peer, Chloe Phillips, Tulani Reeves-Miller, Andrew Silva, Rebecca Slaten, Christopher Soderstrom, Rahne Stewart, Sarah Swetlik, Joseph Wilken, Zia Yurchuck

Sequoyah High School: Kaitlyn Bates, Daniel Bennett, Amanda Brown, Clayton Brown, Cameron Buice, Julianne Clark. Callista Cox, Caroline Crum, Alexis Demar, Mary Dicks, Tommy Domohowski, Mackenzie Eubanks, Megan Evans, Michael Feroah, Samantha Francis, Andrew Gollner, Daniel Gordon, Kobe Greene, John Haas, Yejin Heo, Coleman Hess, Collin Hindt, Allison Hodgins, Mabry Hunt, Kathryn Hunter, Jacob Jenkins, Mitchell Ketcham, Sasha Laveing, Joseph Macuga, Katerina Massengale, Emily Minnick, Alexander Morrison, Hailey Nicholls, Briana Outlaw, Andrea Palese, Leslie Reece, Allison Reid, Isabelle Riddle, Zachary Rogers, Tyler Rutkowski, Slade Searcy, Charlie Smith, Kathryn Stewart, Byron Sullivan, Taike Tolbert, Dalton Trampnau, George Vish, Alexander Wagaman, Brittany Wallace, Laura Weier, Jordan Willingham, Nicholas Willman, Madeleine Wood, Amber Woodhull and Nicholas Zipp.

Woodstock High School: Alexander Andon, Abigail Barrett, Austin Beyers, Kayla Brader, Liam Byrne, Patrick Capozzi, Ethan Chamberlin, Ryan Childree, Kevin Chong, Anna Rose Collins, Austin Cox, Christopher Crawford, Mallory Cromer, Jaclyn Csubak, Scarlett Darby, Briana Delvasto, Sarah Douglass, Madison Dunn, Joseph Felder, Nicolas Franco-Roldan, Lindsey Graham, Tatum Hardy, Drake Harris, Zachary Hopton, Irenee Houngblame, Christopher Jackson, Josiah Jaqua, Jason Jones, Aeon Jones, Kaito Kawamura, Ramsha Khan, Sydney King, Devan Knapp, Maxwell Koch, Jacob Laconi, Kara Landsiedel, Camryn Litke, Adrian Lopez-Torres, Ian Mastriani, Tyler Mathena, Samuel Mathew, Cole McBay, Ansley Meek, Amber Miller, Christopher Newhouse, Patrick Nolen, Shannon Oleson, Cole Ormsby, Emma Osborne, Sofia Perez, Ansel Rainwater, Kevin Rehman, Renee Richardson, Abir Sharma, Justina Simonetta, Christian Staton, Paige Steppe, Justin Theurer, Joshua Thrift, Melissa Tyson, Evan Vines, Matthew Weissel, Caitlin Wheaton, McKenzie Williams, Krystl Wood, Gillian Woodburn and Brittney Zambrano.

---

Images via Cherokee County School District