EDUCATION

Kay Bojorquez, Education Editor

education@poncacitynews.com
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2014 PAGE 7-A
Ponca City High School Announces AP Scholars
Ponca City High School cel-
ebrates both current and for-
mer students who have been
named as 2014 Advanced
Placement Scholars in rec-
ognition of their exceptional
achievement on AP Exams.
Two current seniors quali-
fied for the AP Scholar Award
by completing three or more
AP Exams with scores of 3
or higher. These AP Schol-
ars include Jonathan Childers
and Andrew Neisen.
Graduates of the Class of
2014 join this prestigious list
as well, specifically Jenni-
fer Benton, Lindsey Dicker-
son, Shelby Hackney, Carrie
Kohler, Candace Mathews,
Mackenzie Pruett and Saman-
tha Wigley.
Class of 2015 Senior Sam
Flowers was named the AP
Scholar with Honor. To
achieve this honor, Sam scored
an average score of 3.25 on all
the AP Exams taken and had
scores of three or higher on
four or more of these exams.
Ponca City High School had
three former students earn
the AP Scholar with Distinc-
tion Honors. Bethany Book-
out, Hannah Smith and Ben
Southard, all graduates of
the Class of 2014, comprise
this list. This is the highest
level of recognition by the Col-
lege Board, as students must
receive an average score of
at least 3.5 on all AP exams
taken and make scores of 3 or
higher on five or more of these
exams.
The College Boards AP Pro-
gram provides willing and aca-
demically prepared students
with the opportunity to take
rigorous college-level cours-
es while still in high school
and to earn college credit and
advanced placement for suc-
cessful performance on the
exams. About 18 percent of
the more than 1.9 million stu-
dents worldwide who took AP
Exams performed at a suffi-
ciently high level to also earn
an AP Scholar Award.
Students can score with-
in a range of 1-5, with 5
being the highest, on each
exam. Research consistently
shows that AP students who
score a 3 or higher on AP
Exams typically experience
greater academic success in
college and have higher col-
lege graduation rates than
students who do not partici-
pate in AP. The College Board
recognizes three levels of
achievement based on the stu-
dents overall performance on
AP Exams.
I am extremely proud of
our AP students and our AP
program, said Thad Dilbeck,
principal of Ponca City High
School. The demands and
expectations put upon AP
students are great. The rigor
of the courses definitely pre-
pares students to have suc-
cess in their post-high school
education.
With all 34 different col-
lege-level courses and exams
offered through College
Board, each exam is devel-
oped by a committee of col-
lege and university faculty
and AP teachers, ensuring
that AP Exams are aligned
with the same high standards
expected by college faculty
at some of the nations lead-
ing liberal arts and research
institutions. More than 3,800
colleges and universities
annually receive AP scores.
Most four-year colleges in the
United States provide credit
and/or advanced placement
for qualifying exam scores.
The College Board is a
mission-driven, not-for-profit
organization that connects
students to college success
and opportunity. Founded in
1900, the College Board was
created to expand access to
higher education.
Today, the membership asso-
ciation is made up of more
than 5,900 of the worlds lead-
ing educational institutions
and is dedicated to promoting
excellence and equity in edu-
cation. Each year, the College
Board helps more than seven
million students prepare for
a successful transition to col-
lege through programs and
services in college readiness
and college success-including
the SAT and the Advanced
Placement Program. The
organization also serves the
education community through
research and advocacy on
behalf of students, educators,
and schools.
Congratulations go these
Ponca City High School stu-
dents for achieving this out-
standing achievement.
Book Buddies At Trout Elementary
TROUT ELEMENTARY students enjoy the Book Buddies Program. The program allows two different
grade level students to partner in reading and other activities. Each Friday, students in the program
participate in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) activities together. STEM is about
students learning in a student-centered, question-based, subjected-integrated classroom. Students
recently designed towers that balanced with 10 pieces of spaghetti and a marshmallow. Each group
created their own unique tower. From left are Dyllan Robinson, Dani Harader, and Miguel Staggs-Silva.
Police Foundation Awards Scholarships
Mackenzie Pruett and Lind-
sey Dickerson are recent
recipients of the Ponca City
Police Foundation schol-
arship award. They each
received $1000.
Lindsey is the daughter
of retired Police Lieuten-
ant Don Dickerson and Pam
Dickerson. She is attending
Oklahoma State University
and plans to major in Engi-
neering.
Mackenzie is the daughter
of Corporal Bob Pruett and
Maurisa Pruett. She is attend-
ing the University of Central
Oklahoma and plans to major
in Biological Engineering.
The foundation, the first of
its kind in the state, was orga-
nized in 1998 and is admin-
istered by citizen volunteers
elected to the Board of Trust-
ees.
The trust is funded entirely
by individual contributions,
business donations, corpo-
rate gifts, grants and fund-
raising projects.
The Trust does not replace
Municipal Funding for our
Police Department, it supple-
ments it said Jim Kelly foun-
dation chair for Phillips 66.
In addition to providing
these scholarships for col-
lege students, the foundation
has provided advanced law
enforcement training oppor-
tunities for local officers,
provided scholarship oppor-
tunities for Ponca City Police
Officers along with other sup-
port staff and assisted with
special equipment needs that
are outside of the normal
department budget.
U.S. Cellular Awarding $1 Million To Teachers
U.S. Cellular is donating
$1 million to fund teacher
classroom projects across the
nation, including Oklahoma,
through its Calling All Teach-
ers program.
Last year, the company
contributed $500,000 towards
educational materials for
improved classroom experi-
ences. U.S. Cellular is work-
ing with DonorsChoose.org for
a fourth time and encourages
teachers to post their projects
on the site for potential fund-
ing.
DonorsChoose.org is a char-
ity website that helps teach-
ers identify funds from cor-
porate and individual dona-
tions for classroom projects.
Teachers need to apply via
DonorsChoose.org
Teachers play such a trans-
formative role in student
achievement and we want to
help ensure they have the
necessary tools to provide a
positive learning experience,
said Joe Cabrera, director
of sales, corporate-owned
channel for U.S. Cellular in
Oklahoma. The Calling All
Teachers program allows us
to impact teachers and stu-
dents in our entire footprint
and create unique opportuni-
ties for teachers to engage,
inspire, and educate in the
classroom.
Through U.S. Cellulars
ongoing commitment to the
community and education,
the company has contributed
more than $7 million through
this and other philanthropic
programming. Starting today
K-12 public school teach-
ers can register online at
DonorsChoose.org and affili-
ate as a U.S. Cellular teacher.
Then beginning August 11,
they can post their classroom
projects for funding consider-
ation. Through DonorsChoose.
org U.S. Cellular has fund-
ed more than 4,500 class-
room projects to date, which
included technology tools, art
equipment and science exper-
iments. All projects must be
submitted by September 21 to
be eligible for this years fund-
ing. Selected projects will be
in announced in October.
Teachers are often look-
ing for resources to improve
students educational experi-
ences and we want to help
ease the process, said
Charles Best, founder and
CEO of DonorsChoose.org.
Were pleased to join U.S.
Cellular for a fourth year in
their efforts because funding
teachers classroom projects
to this magnitude can have a
lasting impact on students and
schools.
For more information, visit
uscellular.com.
Blackwell Color Guard Performs
THE BLACKWELL High School Color Guard performed during the BHS pep rally Thursday night at
Sonny Cannon Auto Plaza, 220 W. Doolin, Blackwell. Four Color Guard members are pictured incluing
Jessica Riddle, Janee Hankla, Brittany Pendergraft and Mady Braden. Not pictured is Catrina Dewitt.
New Meal Options For Frontier Public Schools
FRONTIER A new menu
featuring fresh, healthy meal
options will be available at
Frontier Public Schools for
the 2014-15 school year, thanks
to the newly announced part-
nership between the school
district and Keystone Food-
service.
Keystone Foodservice
focuses on providing freshly
prepared breakfast and lunch
options for the students it
serves.
The company, which will
serve approximately 18,000
students daily during the 2014-
15 school year, was recently
selected as the cafeteria
vendor for Frontier Public
Schools.
This is going to be an excit-
ing year for our students in
terms of nutrition, Tracy
Kincannon, superintendent
of Frontier Public Schools,
said. Keystone prepares
fresh meals based on the
tastes of the students. Burgers
and chicken are seasoned by
hand and cooked on a grill. We
anticipate our students are
going to be excited each day
to eat the meals provided by
Keystone Foodservice.
Keystone began serving
breakfast and lunch to the
students at Frontier Public
Schools when classes started
Aug. 14. Lunch includes a full
salad bar, stocked daily with
fresh fruits and vegetables.
Free and reduced prices are
available for students who
qualify.
Our goal is to provide
healthy meals that kids will
actually eat, said Josh Sand-
ers, CEO for Keystone Food-
service. We do that by listen-
ing to the kids and by continu-
ally introducing new foods.
When it comes to a healthy
diet, kids and adults have this
in common: variety is key.
Keystones menu offerings
include homemade chicken
enchiladas, honey-baked ham
and chargrilled hamburgers
made from lean ground beef.
Main courses are accompa-
nied by offerings including
freshly steamed vegetables
and hand-cut sweet potato
fries.
Study after study has
shown that kids who eat a bal-
anced diet perform better in
school, so we take the work we
do seriously, Sanders said.
We want the kids to leave
the cafeteria full and ready
to focus on the day. Our meals
dont just taste good theyre
designed to serve as fuel for
kids in the classroom.
Keystone got its start pro-
viding meal service at frater-
nity and sorority houses on
college campuses in Norman
and Stillwater. The company
began serving its first public
school at the request of one of
its vendors.
Today, Keystone serves
more than 30 schools in Okla-
homa, and the company con-
tinues to grow.
There are some great
school administrators in Okla-
homa who truly want to do
whats best for their students,
and they are willing to think
outside the box when it comes
to nutrition, Sanders said.
We are proud to partner with
Frontier Public Schools, and
we are grateful to the school
board and the administra-
tion for their willingness to
try something new to benefit
the kids they serve. We are
already getting great feedback
about the food we are serv-
ing here, and we are look-
ing forward to always cooking
up something great for these
kids.
Mini Flag Registration Set For Monday, Sept. 8
The Ponca City High School
Color Guard presents Mini
Flag registration Monday,
Sept. 8 at 4 p.m. at the Po-Hi
Fine Arts Building.
Mini Flags is a fun and
exciting experience for
any child age 8th grade or
younger. The mini flags will
rehearse for one week after
school from 4-6 p.m. and per-
form at the home football
game on Friday, Sept. 12.
Cost is $40 per child or $30
each for families enrolling
two or more children. Flags,
T-shirt, and snacks are pro-
vided.
Po-Hi College
Fair Night Set
For Sept. 11
The Ponca City Senior High
School is hosting a College
Fair Night on Thursday, Sept.
11, from 6:30-7:45 p.m. in the
high school Commons area.
There will be representatives
from colleges, universities,
armed services and technical
schools.
Junior and senior students
and parents are invited to
attend.
For more information, con-
tact the Po-Hi main office at
580-767-9500.
More information call 580-765-3900
www.nancyegraysonmd.com
www.thehamiltonclinic.com
THE
Hamilton
CLINIC
Nancy Grayson, M.D.
of Tulsa, Oklahoma
has opened a practice in Adult Psychiatry at
425 Fairview #3 Ponca City