Chamber honors students with luncheon
Posted on Wednesday, May 7, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/decatur/News/2475/
DECATUR ó The Decatur Chamber of Commerce celebrated the accomplishments of honor graduates and Arkansas scholars from Decaturís class of 2008 at the annual honors luncheon on Monday.
The luncheon was held in the Decatur Community Center and catered by Amanís Barbecue. Each student was given a gift bag of items donated by local businesses.
Six students were awarded for their efforts. Mark Yang, Ethan Holly, Claire Betts, Tera Cloud, Julie May and Kaci Foster are all Arkansas Scholars. The award is given to students in grades nine through 12 who maintain a grade of C and above, have a 95 percent attendance rate and take the college-bound curriculum.
Cloud, May, Foster and Betts earned the status of honor graduates by maintaining a grade point average of over 3. 5. Cloud and May have a 4. 0 GPA, and Foster has a 3. 8 GPA. Betts, who is also the class valedictorian, earned a GPA of over 4. 0 because of the advanced placement classes she took. The class salutatorian will not be determined until final grades are released.
ì In my first year at Decatur, itís a pleasure and a blessing to have a good senior class. This class is wonderful, î high school principal Bobby King said.
He also thanked the chamber of commerce, ì This means a lot. It is very thoughtful. î
High school counselor Nancy Cotter said that out of the class of 40 students, 20 students, including those honored at the luncheon, are planning to go on to college.
She said a total of seven to eight students will get full-ride scholarships, including the four honor graduates.
ì We do pretty good for a small school, î Cotter said.
Each student told the chamber about future plans. Yang told chamber members he plans to attend the University of Arkansas and major in pre-veterinary science. May said she plans to attend Arkansas Tech and major in English and become an English teacher.
Foster said she plans to attend the University of the Ozarks and major in business and play basketball. Cloud said she plans to attend Arkansas Tech and major in hospitality. Betts also plans to attend Arkansas Tech and major in nursing.
Holly said he plans to attend Northeastern Oklahoma University, then Oklahoma State University, and major in agricultural business.