The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence announced in late February that four district students are recipients of the prestigious 2005 Academic All-State Awards.
Daniela Mello de Almeida from Putnam City High School, Sarah Swinney of Putnam City West High School, and Alisa Ballard and Ziying Zhang from Putnam City North High School are among the 100 top public high school seniors selected from 579 nominations statewide.
Each of this year’s All-Staters will receive a $1,500 scholarship, a medallion and a commemorative plaque. The All-Staters will be recognized at the Foundation’s annual Academic Awards Banquet on Saturday, May 21, at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City.
The 2005 Academic All-State Class is the 19th to be selected by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. Since the award program’s inception in 1987, some 1,900 high school seniors from 277 school districts have been named All-State scholars. With 93 students selected for the honor in 19 years, Putnam City has more students recognized than any other school district in Oklahoma.
David L. Boren, chairman and founder of the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, describes the selection of the scholars as " Oklahoma’s most rigorous academic competition."
To be nominated for Academic All-State, students must meet one of the following criteria: American College Test (ACT) score of at least 30, Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) score of at least 1350, National Merit semifinalist, National Achievement (African American) semifinalist, or National Hispanic Scholar Awards semifinalist. This year’s All-Staters scored an average of 32.9 on the ACT and an average of 1453 on the SAT. One student scored a perfect 36 on the ACT, while three made top scores of 1600 on the SAT. In addition, 44 of this year’s All-Staters are National Merit semifinalists, one is a National Achievement award semifinalist, and one is a National Hispanic semifinalist.
Most Academic All-State nominees are in the top 1 percent academically of all Oklahoma public high school seniors, which makes the selection process very competitive. Once nominated, recipients are selected on the basis of academic achievement, extracurricular activities and community involvement, as well as an essay submitted by each nominee.