Five Alabama High School Seniors Honored As State Finalists College And Career Readiness Celebration
By: Blake Deshazo
Updated: March 13, 2013
Montgomery, Ala. - ACT, Inc. today launches an annual College
and Career Readiness Campaign to celebrate achievement and create awareness around the goal of college- and career-readiness for all. ACT
has partnered with Alabama and select states for the College and Career
Readiness Campaign to nominate students with exemplary ACT scores, high
grade point averages and significant academic, professional, school and
community involvements.
The
program helps to further the Alabama State Department of Education's
vision for "Plan 2020: Every Child a Graduate--Every Graduate Prepared
for College, Work,
Adulthood in the 21st Century."
Seven
states are participating in the campaign in this first year, including
Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, North Carolina, and
Wisconsin.
On
March 14, 2013, resolutions celebrating the students will be presented
at the Alabama State Board of Education meeting. The state winner will
be announced at
the board meeting and will have the opportunity to be chosen by ACT as
the national winner. The national winner will be honored at the National
Gala of College and Career Readiness in Washington, D.C., in May.
The
five state finalists were selected by school staff as an ACT College
and Career Readiness Campaign student nominee and are as follows:
Sheree Michelle Gremillion
of Rogers High School, Lauderdale County Schools. Gremillion has a 3.9
GPA and scored a 33 on the ACT Test. Rogers High science
teacher Traci Jones, who nominated Gremillion for the ACT College and
Career Readiness Campaign, said Gremillion's determination is evident.
"She
is a very good student and works hard to maintain excellent grades and
is highly motivated," Jones wrote in her nomination letter. "I am so
proud of her for
scoring 33 on her ACT. This score, coupled with her grades and work
ethic in my classes, speaks volumes about her academic ability."
Keaton Brooks Galloway
of Lamar County High School, Lamar County Schools. Galloway has a 4.0
GPA and scored a 32 on the ACT. Nominator and Lamar County High
English teacher Ernestine Chandler is not surprised by Galloway's
achievements.
"Of
the nearly 5,000 students I have taught over the years (including seven
years teaching college), Keaton stands out as my number one student,"
Chandler wrote
in her nomination letter. "Keaton settles for nothing less than his very
best in any classroom or extracurricular endeavor."
Sarah Brooke Haygood
of Boaz High School, Boaz City Schools. Haygood, who has a 4.0 GPA and
scored a 32 on the ACT, currently ranks at the top of her senior
class. Boaz High guidance counselor Becky Boddie said she has never met a
student as ambitious as Haygood in her 30 years of education.
"Sarah
embodies the characteristics of leadership that we wish for all
students: responsibility, determination, personality, compassion,
citizenship and empathy,
just to name a few," Boddie wrote of Haygood.
Alyssa Nicole Cunningham
of Meek High School, Winston County Schools. Cunningham has a 3.8 GPA
and scored a 32 on the ACT, which is quite significant, said
guidance counselor and nominator Lauren Archer.
"She
has the highest ACT score ever achieved at Meek High School, so we are
very proud to nominate her on behalf of Winston County," Archer said in
her nomination
letter, adding that Cunningham has shown tremendous academic and social
growth from Grades 7-12.
Jeremy Lee Burgess
of Enterprise High School, Enterprise City Schools. Burgess has
maintained a 4.0 GPA since his sophomore year, scored a 31 on the ACT
and is poised to be the valedictorian of Enterprise High's Class of
2013.
Guidance
counselor Cami McClenny, who nominated Burgess for the ACT College and
Career Readiness Campaign, said, "Academically, Jeremy is among the
brightest students
I have had the pleasure of working with in my 16 year career in
education."
In
addition to striving to become college- and career-ready by taking
Advanced Placement and Honors classes or courses at local community
colleges, the five finalists
are involved in extracurricular activities such as marching band, the
National Honor Society and Scholars' Bowl, as well as volunteering in
their communities.
"We
are excited to stand with states to recognize leaders in advancing or
embodying successful readiness for college and career," said Jon
Whitmore, chief executive
officer of ACT. "More exciting is that each state announcement is just
one component of a campaign that will highlight college- and
career-readiness efforts across the education and workforce continuum."
At
the conclusion of the Alabama State Board of Education meeting, ACT
will host a luncheon at The Young House in Old Alabama Town to honor the
five finalists,
their parents or guardians, a representative from each student's school
or district and other distinguished guests from the ALSDE.
