Two area students awarded Texas Lyceum

Two area students awarded Texas Lyceum Leadership Awards

Two students from the Big Country have been recognized by the Texas Lyceum, a statewide nonprofit, nonpartisan leadership group focused on identifying the next generation of top Texas leaders. The two students were among five from the state who received Lyceum Leadership scholarship awards. Each winner will receive a $2,000 scholarship.

Coleman High School senior Nicole Lynn Heath, the daughter of Jan of William Heath of Coleman, was recognized for demonstrating leadership qualities as Student Council president and in 4-H Club, basketball, track and cheerleading. She also serves as a supportive peer volunteer at Coleman High. She will attend Texas A&M University in the fall and plans to study biomedical science.

Wylie High School senior Joshua Light, the son of Joey and Karen Light of Abilene, was recognized for demonstrating leadership qualities as Student Council president during both his junior and senior years and his participation in UIL activities, football, soccer and church. He will attend Texas A&M University and major in chemical engineering.

Local to be included

in Who's Who

Krysten Michele Rhodes, from Abilene, will be included in the 2009 edition of "Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges." Rhodes is a student at Emory & Henry College.

Also, Rhodes was recently honored by Emory & Henry College with the Psychology Department Award for Academic Excellence and Highest GPA and the Sociology Department Award for Academic Excellence and Highest GPA.

Scholarship awarded

Payton Farris, the son of Danny and Mary Beth Farris of Tuscola, was recently awarded the International Brangus Auxiliary Upperclassman Scholarship. Payton Farris is studying animal science at West Texas A&M University. The scholarship is for $2,000.

Graduation

Jimmy Smith has received a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice online from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin.

McMurry University news

n Dr. Tina Bertrand, professor of political science at McMurry University, was recently elected to serve two-year term on the National Model U.N.-N.Y. advisory board. The NMUN-NY advisory board is responsible for organizing the world's largest model U.N. conference.

n "A classification of geographic elements and analysis of the flora of Big Bend Region, Texas," by McMurry University faculty member Dr. Anna Saghatelyan, will be published in the June issue of The Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas.

n McMurry University honors student Diane Codding, a double major in English and religion, recently won first place in the humanities division at an undergraduate research conference at West Texas A&M University.

n Two McMurry University students won recognition at the 2009 National Convention of Alpha Chi. Erin Bodiford received a $200 scholarship award for her paper "Deo Vindice: The Continuity of Religious Ideology in the South." Lindsey Gallegos received a $200 scholarship award for her soprano presentation "Postmodern Performance Practice: A 21st Century Performance of a 19th Century Aria."

n McMurry University Professor Wayne Keith's abstract "Multi-satellite Investigations of the Cusps Under Various Pitch Angle Sorting Algorithms," funded by a grant from NASA, has been accepted. Keith will give a talk at the Joint Assembly of the American Geophysical Union in the summer in Toronto.

Howard Payne University nonacademic awards

Howard Payne University recently named the winners of various nonacademic awards. Based upon a student body vote, Tristan Summers, a senior accounting from Corpus Christi, and Kristen Hoover, a senior psychology major from Brock, were named Mr. and Ms. HPU, respectively.

Other awards were:

Freshman: Favorite Male -- Dayton Ferguson; Favorite Female -- Aimee Ray; Class Beau -- Nick Rayburn; Class Beauty -- Becky Utterback.

Sophomore: Favorite Male -- Darren McElroy; Favorite Female -- Courtni Buster; Class Beau -- B.J. Foster; Class Beauty -- Jeffri Malone.

Junior: Favorite Male -- Lane Wakefield; Favorite Female -- Debbie Utterback; Class Beau -- L.J. McCulloch; Class Beauty -- Emily Tittle.

Senior: Favorite Male -- Aaron Rister; Favorite Female -- Kristen Hoover; Class Beau -- Colton Burran; Class Beauty -- Cristal Moreno.

Friendliest Freshman: Male -- Adam Hardy; Female -- Becky Utterback.

Friendliest Upperclassman: Male -- Remington Reed; Female -- Katie Curry.

Scholarships available

Ranger College Regent Scholarships for which all high school graduates are eligible have recently been made available.

Regent Scholarships will be awarded up to $625 per semester per student for four consecutive semesters, not to exceed a total of $2,500. To be eligible, a student must be enrolled at least 12 credit hours on the main Ranger campus and must provide a high-school transcript to receive this scholarship. The scholarship must be used during the fall and/or spring but may not be used in the summer. Students already receiving an athletic scholarship may not receive this scholarship. Students are encouraged to complete the FAFSA, but it is not required.

The Regent Scholarship is directed primarily to the local commuter student who is interested in academic course work before transferring to a four-year university, or for students interested in Workforce programs at Ranger College.

For more information, call the Financial Aid department at Ranger College at (254) 647-3234 Ext. 217, or the Workforce department at Ext. 230.