May 29, 2002

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Contact: Sandra Wick, Honors Program, (785) 864-3248.

130 top Kansas high school students selected to attend honors academy at KU

See list of counties represented. Students are listed below by county, with hometown and high school.

LAWRENCE -- One hundred thirty top high school students in Kansas have been selected to attend the 15th annual Kansas Regents Honors Academy from June 9 to July 6 at the University of Kansas.

The students represent the following counties: Atchison, Barton, Bourbon, Brown, Butler, Cherokee, Clay, Cowley, Crawford, Decatur, Douglas, Edwards, Ellis, Ellsworth, Finney, Ford, Franklin, Geary, Graham, Gray, Greenwood, Harper, Jefferson, Jewell, Johnson, Labette, Leavenworth, Linn, Lyon, McPherson, Meade, Miami, Montgomery, Morris, Nemaha, Neosho, Osage, Ottawa, Rawlins, Republic, Reno, Rice, Riley, Russell, Saline, Sedgwick, Shawnee, Trego, Wabaunsee, Washington, Wilson and Wyandotte.

The junior- and senior-level students competed to attend the one-month college-credit academy, which will contemplate the origins and meaning of our expanding universe. High school counselors nominate students to the Regents Honors Academy Coordinating Committee, which selects the participants. Selection for the academy is based on an original essay, grade-point average, class standing, standardized test scores, extracurricular and work activity, and teacher recommendations.

The theme for the 2002 academy, which rotates to a different regents campus each year, is "Existence, Essence, Quintessence: Origins, Meaning and the Expanding Universe." Academy students enroll in two courses exploring the theme. Faculty from the departments of art history, biology, communication studies, physics, psychology, political science and religious studies teach the courses. Academy students paying college tuition may earn college credit that may transfer as elective credit to any regents university.

This year's academy strives to present a rewarding intellectual experience for Kansas' strongest students, said David Besson, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at KU who will teach the core class at the academy.

"Studies of distant supernovae, coupled with recent delicate measurements of the faint, 12.5 billion-year-old 'glow' left over from the Big Bang, have redefined our model of the cosmos," Besson said. "The academy will look at the philosophical implications of our redefined models of physics at both microscopic and macroscopic levels."

Students are responsible for transportation costs and personal expenses while attending the academy and for college tuition if they choose to earn college credit. Sandra S. Wick is director of the 2002 Kansas Regents Honors Academy.

Selected academy participants are:

Atchison

From Atchison
Alexander Denton, Atchison High School
Timothy Hoffman, Atchison High School

Barton

From Pawnee Rock
Kyle Hesed, Otis-Bison High School

Bourbon

From Fort Scott
Quinton Cheney, Fort Scott High School

Brown

From Hiawatha
Carla Schuster, Hiawatha High School

From Horton
Meranda Paden, Horton High School

From Robinson
Erin Feuerbacher, Hiawatha High School

Butler

From Augusta
Steven Guthrie, Bluestem High School

From El Dorado
Stacy Grove, Flinthills High School
Brandon Light, El Dorado High School
Ashton Martin, El Dorado High School

From Rosalia
Katherine Marten, Flinthills High School

Cherokee

From Galena
Katie Horner, Galena High School

Clay

From Wakefield
Cayla Witty, Wakefield High School

Cowley

From Atlanta
Tyler Martin, Burden Central High School

From Udall
Christine Burrus, Udall High School

Crawford

From Girard
Molly Murphy, Girard High School
Christina Sell, Girard High School

From Pittsburg
Michelle Keeling, Frontenac High School

Decatur

From Jennings
Christina Coiner, Jennings High School

Douglas

From Baldwin City
Katherine Lammers, Baldwin High School

From Lawrence
Sean Hill, Bishop Seabury Academy

Edwards

From Lewis
Micah Unruh, Wichita Northeast Magnet

Ellis

From Hays
John Whitmer, Thomas More Prep-Marian

Ellsworth

From Ellsworth
Matthew DeVolder, Ellsworth High School

Finney

From Garden City
Eric Babb, Garden City High School
Elizabeth Crotty, Garden City High School
Kevin Meier, Garden City High School

Ford

From Bucklin
Jeremy Oakley, Bucklin High School

Franklin

From Princeton
Michelle Vanover, Central Heights High School

From Williamsburg
Joanna Rubick, Williamsburg High School

Geary

From Junction City
Heather Martin, Junction City High School Ashley Wheeler, Junction City High School

Graham

From Hill City
Kyle Robinson, Hill City High School

From Morland
Amanda Knoll, Quinter High School

Gray

From Montezuma
Kamille Ratzlaff, South Gray High School

Greenwood

From Severy
Christopher Taliaferro, West Elk High School

Harper

From Anthony
Charley Forsyth, Chapparal High School

Jefferson

From Oskaloosa
Garret Tufte, Oskaloosa High School

Jewell

From Mankato
Reba Liggett, Mankato High School

Johnson

From Lenexa
Jason Lee, Shawnee Mission West High School

From Olathe
Nicole Coulson, Olathe North High School
Haley Goucher, Olathe North High School
Alicia Greene, Olathe North High School

From Overland Park
Phyllis Yang, Blue Valley Northwest High School

From Shawnee
Zeba Hasan, Shawnee Mission Northwest High School

Labette

From Altamont
Matthew Ybarra, Labette County High School

From Edna
Jarrod Waugh, Labette County High School

From Parsons
Shelby Brenn, Parsons High School

Leavenworth

From Easton
Cassandra Akasaki, Pleasant Ridge High School

From Leavenworth
Catherine Erickson, Leavenworth High School
BriAnnan Jones, Leavenworth High School
Kaitlyn Kelly, Tonganoxie High School

Linn

From Centerville
Sara Holt, Prairie View High School

Lyon

From Admire
Audra Jenkins, Emporia High School

From Emporia
Abigail East, Emporia High School
Elizabeth Yanik, Emporia High School

McPherson

From McPherson
Amy Do, McPherson High School
Rachel Gentry, McPherson High School
Jessica Harper, McPherson High School

Meade

From Plains
Tamarah Dreitz, Southwestern Heights High School
Amanda Mercer, Southwestern Heights High School

Miami

From Osawatomie
Duncan Miller, Osawatomie High School

From Paola
Nelson Green, Paola High School
Brook Rentz, Paola High School

Montgomery

From Caney
Samantha Post, Caney Valley High School

From Coffeyville
Afrita Stewart Davis, Field Kindly Memorial High School

Morris

From Council Grove
Deborah Murphy, Council Grove High School

Nemaha

From Centralia
Cassandra Boyle, Centralia High School

Neosho

From Chanute
Benjamin Coate, Chanute High School
Aubrey Jarred, Chanute High School
Sarah McCauley, Chanute High School
Laura Tripp, Chanute High School

Osage

From Vassar
Suzette Runyon, Lyndon High School

Ottawa

From Culver
Whitney Suske, Ell-Saline High School

From Tescott
Rachel Larson, Tescott High School

Rawlins

From Atwood
Angela Bliss, Atwood High School

Republic

From Belleville
Kelley Melton, Belleville High School

Reno

From Abbyville
Heather Mitzner, Fairfield High School

From Partridge
Peter Miller, Haven High School

Rice

From Chase
Jordan Poskey, Chase High School

From Lyons
Sally Ebright, Lyons High School
Kristin Watson-Drennen, Lyons High School

Riley

From Fort Riley
Christina Lachut, Junction City High School

From Manhattan
Andrew Boyd, Riley County High School
Tracy Britt, Manhattan High School
Allison Brooks, Manhattan High School
Mehrdad Hosni, Manhattan High School
Amanda Tackett, Riley County High School
Matthew Taylor, Manhattan High School

Russell

From Lucas
Marley Palmer, Lucas-Luray High School

From Russell
Raine Kaufman, Russell High School

Saline

From Salina
Jennifer Guerra, Salina High South
Travis Haugh, Salina High Central
Emily Henke, Sacred Heart High School
Joseph Sparacino, Southeast of Saline High School
Arthur Thompson, Salina High South
Timothy Welch, Salina High Central

Sedgwick

From Clearwater
Megan Mills, Clearwater High School
Mitchell Papish, Clearwater High School

From Derby
Jaime Andrews, Derby High School
Brian Starr, Derby High School

From Goddard
Jimmy Bishop, Goddard High School

From Haysville
Beverly Ball, Campus High School

From Kechi
Laura Ehmke, Wichita Northeast Magnet High School

From Wichita
James Blakemore, Wichita East High School
Emily Calabro, Andover Central High School
Kimberly Dickey, Maize High School
Charles Henry, Andover Central High School
Margaret Kobawoo, Wichita East High School
Jordan List, Maize High School
Michael Phillips, Maize High School
Dennis Toy, Wichita East High School
Alexandra Unruh, Wichita Northeast Magnet High School
Luis Vargas, Wichita Northwest High School
Nhung Vu, Wichita Heights High School

Shawnee

From Topeka
Katie Becker, Hayden High School
Joy Noakes, Washburn Rural High School
Katherine O'Hara, Topeka High School
Michela Perry, Hayden High School
Jonathan To, Topeka West High School
Jaime Wade, Perry-Lecompton High School

Trego

From Ogallah
Will Schlegel, Trego Community High School

Wabaunsee

From Alta Vista
Rachel Collier, Council Grove High School

Washington

From Linn
Crystal Pihl, Prairie View High School

Wilson

From Fredonia
William Clausen, Fredonia High School
Matthew Harsin, Fredonia High School

Wyandotte

From Kansas City
Genevie Gold, Sumner Academy
Akilah Mahon, Washington High School
Natalie Modzelewski, Sumner Academy

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