Published: May 03, 2007 12:45 am            

School briefs for 5/3/07

OBA Junior High academic team is state champion



Oklahoma Bible Academy’s junior high academic team won the Oklahoma Junior Academic Bowl Association State Championship state title for class 2A and 3A schools April 21.

The team previously had captured the OJABA district and regional championships to reach the state competition.

Results of the competition, held on the University of Oklahoma campus were OBA 270, Tishomingo 190; OBA 305, Oktaha 105; OBA 290, Grove 265; and OBA 260, Oktaha 235.

Team members were Trey Brumley, Laura Grosz, Nick Hoffsommer, Ryan Fowler, Daniel Johnson, Timmy Ramseyer, Troy Brainard and Blane Lichtenwalter. Coach is Paul Dunbar.

Other teams that competed at state were Adair, Grandview, Colbert, Caney Valley, Grove, Oklahoma Union, Foyil, Dale and Vanoss.

OBA completed the season undefeated.







Students awarded Farm Credit scholarships



Farm Credit of Enid ACA has awarded seven scholarships to area high school seniors for 2007. Each will receive a $750 scholarship to use toward college costs at their chosen universities.

The Farm Credit of Enid scholarship is given to outstanding high school seniors who are furthering their education and who have parents or grandparents that are stockholders of the institution.

Recipi-ents of the scholarships are chosen by an independent panel of judges. This year’s recipients include Hannah Denker, daughter of Randy and Pam Denker of Enid; Adrian Nault, daughter of Mike and Berry Nault of Enid; Jessica Hadwiger, daughter of Joe and Gail Hadwiger of Cherokee; Andrew Westfahl, son of Kenneth and LaDonna Westfahl of Isabella; Haley Hayton, daughter of David and Debbie Hayton of Billings; Gray Wooderson, son of Bruce and Karla Wooderson of Blackwell.

These recipients will be attending Oklahoma State University in the fall.

Molly Cartmill is the daughter of Danny and Cindy Cartmill of Medford. She will be attending Northeast-ern Oklahoma State University in the fall.





Local 5th-grader honored



National Fraternal Congress of America recognized Megan Pettus, a member of Modern Woodmen of America, Youth Service Club No. 15431-1 of Enid, as a Fraternal Most Valuable Participant for the week of April 16. Fraternal MVPs are Fraternalists-in-Action who volunteer their time and energy to strengthen their communities through participation in local lodge activities and other charitable endeavors.

“The NFCA wishes to salute those individuals as true fraternalists,” said NFCA chairwoman of the board Janice U. Whipple. “As a Fraternal MVP, Megan Pettus embodies the heart of fraternalism through her hard work, dedication and generosity.”

Pettus, a fifth-grader at Taft Elementary School, is an active member of her Modern Woodmen Youth Service Club. Pettus’ club leader said she has perfect attendance in all youth activities.

As a club member, Pettus has helped make cards for U.S. veterans, helped deliver packages of stationery and stamps to shut-ins, assisted with planting a tree at the fire station, donated canned food, helped host a party for the residents at a local nursing home and participated in Join Hands Day.

Beyond her participation with Modern Woodmen, Pettus keeps busy with the school honor choir, academic challenge, church youth group, softball, basketball and helping at daycare.

Fraternal MVPs are part of NFCA’s Fraternalists-in-Action program, which recognizes individuals whose unique stories best represent 21st century fraternalism.





Chesapeake awards student scholarships



Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy Corp. recently announced an additional $50,000 donation to Southwestern Oklahoma State University to assist in the funding of student scholarships. The funds will be distributed over five years and bring the total scholarship commitment from Chesapeake to $75,000.

Ten $1,000 scholarships were presented to SWOSU juniors and seniors majoring in business, mathematics and engineering physics at a ceremony on the Weatherford campus.

Area Chesapeake Scholars at SWOSU for the 2007-08 school year are Tabitha Cox of Kingfisher and Cammi Valdez of Enid.

In addition to the 10 scholarships, Martha Burger, senior vice president, corporate and human resources, said the corporation will present an additional five $1,000 scholarships to incoming freshmen at SWOSU. 

“The energy industry has historically provided leadership and economic development in our state. At Chesapeake Energy we believe that our industry’s next leaders are attending our colleges and universities today,” Burger said. “We are pleased to be able to provide support for top students to help us continue our history of growth and industry-leading performance.”





Autry students place 3rd in HOSA Bowl contest



More than 1,750 students and educators participated in the Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) State Leadership Conference last week at Meridian Convention Center in Oklahoma City. HOSA is the CareerTech student-led organization associated with health occupations education. Three nursing students from Autry Technology Center placed third in the post-secondary HOSA Bowl contest.

Leslie Davis, Christi Gery and Tiffanie Hardage competed against peers across the state. They qualified to participate at this year’s state contest through preliminary events held online through a partnership with CareerTech Testing Division and its health certification Web-testing services.

“Twenty-six events had online tests where students competed prior to the finals at the state contest,” said Debbie Shumaker, state HOSA adviser. “This has saved the state and HOSA more than $17,000 in transportation costs, hotel expenses registration fees and substitute teacher pay. Once qualified, students came and took part in some of the 50 different competitive events during the state contest.

“We are very, very proud of our students and their success,” said Ann Mavity, practical nursing instructor at Autry. “The online preliminaries made it possible for more of our students to take part in contest activities because they didn’t have to leave town to be away from school, jobs and children. It’s really a progressive way to use technology, and it makes competition more accessible to all our students.”

Autry Tech offers hundreds of training classes for those interested in health care, service careers, business and information technology and technical trades. Autry also provides customized training for more than 400 area businesses through business and industry training services.





McKinley teachers to host Share Fair Aug. 2



McKinley Elementary School teachers are hosting their first Share Fair Aug. 2. Teachers will be presenters, and participants can choose between 15 to 20 concurrent sessions. The featured topics include reading, math, science and social studies. Other special sessions include make and take, student-led conferences, and the journey to national board certification.

There will be something for all kindergarten through sixth- grade teachers, including door prizes.

The $30 registration fee includes a catered lunch. Registration is due by July 13. Anyone wanting to register for Share Fair can e-mail McKinley teachers at sharefair@ enidk12.org.

Local merchants and several textbook companies will host booths. Anyone interested in setting up a booth at the fair or donating a door prize for event, can contact Shawna Tanner at McKinley, 234-5958, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., or mckinleyteacher @yahoo.com.





Guniganti on deans’ list



Ridhima Guniganti, daughter of Ravinder Rao and Uma Guniganti of Enid, was named to the winter term 2007 deans’ list at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Conn.

Choate Rosemary Hall is an independent secondary school enrolling 846 boarding and day students from 44 states and 19 countries.



Wilson named scholar



Tanner B. Wilson, a student at Vista Ridge High School in Austin, Texas, has been selected for membership by National Society of High School Scholars. The society recognizes the top scholars in the nation and invites only those students who have achieved superior academic excellence. The announcement was made by NSHSS founder and chairman Class Nobel, a senior member of the Swedish Nobel family.

Wilson, who is valedictorian of his junior class of 532, is the son of Bill and Lisa Wilson, Austin and the grandson of Shirley Wilson, Enid.





Hulsey receives recognition



Seth Hulsey, of Enid, has been named a United States National Award winner for art by United States Achievement Academy.

The academy recognizes fewer than 10 percent of all American high school students.

Hulsey, who attends Longfellow Junior High School, was nominated for the award by Charla Enns, a teacher at the school. He will appear in the United States Achievement Academy’s official yearbook, which is published nationally.

Hulsey is the son of Stephanie Parker and the grandson of Don and Brenda Perry, all of Enid.





Students portraying figures



Area students Rachel Kliewer, Emily Atkinson and Hannah Burton are part of one of the major events celebrating Oklahoma’s 100 years of statehood, a production of the debates of the state 1907 Constitutional Convention.

Kliewer, a member of Ringwood High School junior class, was selected by the school to portray D.G. Harned, a delegate from this area to the convention.

Atkinson, a member of the Enid High School junior class, was selected by the school to portray Charles L. Moore, an area convention delegate

Burton, also an EHS junior, was selected by the school to portray delegate Charles Holland Pittman.

Students participating in the program receive a $1,000 scholarship from the Masonic Fraternity of Oklahoma in exchange for appearing in two public performances of an exemplification of the debates of the convention. The production takes place in the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple in Guthrie, the town where the original convention was held.

The first performance was held April 14, and the second performance is Oct. 20, with a production on the lawn starting at 12:30 p.m. and the main production starting in the auditorium at 2.

“There are many activities for people to enjoy,” said Joe Manning, executive director of the Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma, which is funding the event. “The lawn production includes suffragettes, demonstrators for both the prohibition and the ‘wet’ forces, children playing the games of the turn of the century, and a speech contest for those cast members who choose to participate, with prizes for the best orations.”

More than 85 students from across the state are participating in the production.