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2016 Superintendent’s Key Scholars

CCSD Recognizes Record Number of Superintendent's Key Scholars for 2016

EHS Gideon Boyington
Etowah High School junior Gideon Boyington receives his Key Scholar patch from Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian V. Hightower.

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, 2016 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 Superintendent’s 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 Dr. Brian V. Hightower, Superintendent of Schools, 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 SAT and 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 HS choral students, the presentation of colors by the River Ridge HS Air Force Junior ROTC and remarks by School Board Chair Kyla Cromer.

Cherokee High School 

Brittany Adams

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

Makaila Wood

Creekview High School

Kenyon Bixby

Jacob Bohler

Trenton Carrere

Ryan Chiavelli

Scott Chipman

Gavin Garcia

Dylan 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

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

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

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

Brittney Zambrano