22 School District Five students recognized in Duke TIP, 2 receive grand recognition
June 21, 2018
Twenty-two seventh-graders from Lexington-Richland School District Five have been recognized by the Duke University Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP) for their exceptional scores on the ACT or SAT, and two students in the district qualified for Grand Recognition in the prestigious academic program.
Irmo Middle School’s Logan Humbert and Dutch Fork Middle’s Kaylee Chen were honored during a Duke TIP Grand Recognition ceremony at Duke University this school year. The district’s 22 Duke TIP state recognition recipients were honored during a May ceremony at Furman University.
“We are extremely proud to recognize our remarkably talented students who have demonstrated key aspects of their academic potential by achieving scores on the ACT or SAT commensurate with half of all college-bound high school seniors,” says Shawna Young, Executive Director of Duke TIP. “As an alum of our 7th Grade Talent Search, I still remember how it felt to be recognized by Duke and TIP in 7th grade, as well as my excitement and anxiety at taking the SAT at such a young age. As an organization, we cherish the opportunity to celebrate each of our ceremonies honorees for such an outstanding accomplishment.”
Duke TIP’s 7th Grade Talent Search identifies students across the United States who have scored at or above the 95th percentile on a grade-level standardized test. As part of the program, these academically talented students take above-level college-entrance exams to learn more about their abilities. Duke TIP then hosts annual recognition ceremonies to honor the 7th graders who scored the highest on these ACT or SAT exams.
School District Five students earning state recognition are: Ella Bothe (Chapin Middle); Hannah Carson (Chapin Middle); Alana Hinton (Chapin Middle); Zoe Jones (Chapin Middle); Andrew Lindler (Chapin Middle); James Moore (Chapin Middle); Drayton Privette (Chapin Middle); Alicia Qian (Chapin Middle); Luxi Qin (Chapin Middle); Sarah Witko (Chapin Middle); Dane Anderson (Dutch Fork Middle); Kaylee Chen (Dutch Fork Middle); Emerson Compton (Dutch Fork Middle); Ebonee Davis (Dutch Fork Middle); Hailey McCoy (Dutch Fork Middle); Hope Mitchell (Dutch Fork Middle); Eleanor Prosser (Dutch Fork Middle); Christopher Targia (Dutch Fork Middle); Saanvi Cherukumalli (Irmo Middle); Joshua Dean (Irmo Middle); Logan Humbert (Irmo Middle); and Surya Swaminathan (Irmo Middle).
“This is an amazing accomplishment for our students and true testament to the quality of instruction in our school district,” said Tami Richardson, School District Five coordinator for gifted and talented programs. “We congratulate them and their families on this accomplishment.”
To qualify for the Grand Recognition Ceremony, students must earn scores that are approximately equal to the 90th national percentile rank for college-bound seniors taking the tests—that includes about four percent of TIP students. Of 48,569 students who took the exams through Duke TIP—all of whom are in the 95th percentile of their grade level—only 2,611 were invited to the Grand Recognition Ceremony.
“We are beaming with pride for Logan,” said Irmo Middle Principal Cassy Paschal. “Not only is he a great student academically. He’s just a great person, period. Logan, your Irmo Middle family is proud of you.”
Dutch Fork Middle Principal Vernon Sava said, “Kaylee is a model Dutch Fork student. She’s focused in the classroom and active in music and other activities outside the classroom. We couldn’t be more proud. Congratulations to Kaylee and her family.
