Po-Hi senior named Academic All-Star Scholar

A Ponca City Senior High School student has been name an Academic All-Star Scholar.

Shelby Hackney is one of 100 public high school seniors who receives a $1,000 scholarship.

She also earned the high school an Academic All-State flag to mark their commitment to academic excellence.

The top 100 are selected from 567 nominations statewide and hail from 79 schools in 70 Oklahoma school districts.

This is the 28th class the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence has selected.

Since the award program’s inception in 1987, some 2,800 high school seniors from 314 school districts have been named All-Star Scholars.

The All-Staters will be recognized at the foundation’s 28th annual Academic Awards Banquet on May 17 at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center in Norman.

This event, which nearly 1,000 state education supporters attend is broadcast statewide on public TV.

The featured keynote speaker for the banquet is bestselling author and Harvard Professor, Robert D. Putnam.

David L. Boren, chairman and found of the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence describes the criteria.

"Oklahoma’s most rigorous academic competition," Boren said. "To be nominated for Academic All-State, students must meet of the following criteria, an American College Test composite score of at least 30, a Scholastic Aptitude Test combined critical reading and math score of at least 1340 or be selected as a semi-finalist for a National Merit, National Achievement or National Hispanic Scholarship."

This year’s All-State students scored an average of 33 on the ACT, with nine recipients scoring a perfect 36.

In addition, 37 of this year’s All-Staters are National Merit semifinalists, while four are National Hispanic Scholars.

Academic All-Staters are nominated by their principals or superintendents and are selected on the basis of academic achievement, extracurricular activities and community involvement, as well as an essay submitted by each nominee.

The selection committee, which is chaired by retired Tulsa attorney Teresa B. Adwan, works independently of all other Foundation activities.

The committee members are diverse group of business, education and civic leader, as well as past Academic Awards Program honorees.