JHS graduate 106 on May 22 in stadium JHS

The Jacksonville News / The Piedmont Journal
6A • MAY 2014
JHS scholarship recipients
Photos by
Anita Kilgore
Jacksonville High School students receiving
scholarships include: Emilee Arledge - Jacksonville State
University Gamecock Scholarship. Emily Ausborn - Fry
Scholarship, The University of Alabama at Birmingham
Breakthrough Scholarship. Jackson Bell - The University
of Alabama at Birmingham Academic Achievement
Scholarship,
Birmingham-Southern
Greensboro
Scholarship. Hali Blankenship - Elks National Foundation
“Most Valuable Student” Scholarship; The University of
Alabama at Birmingham Breakthrough Scholarship;
The University of Alabama at Birmingham Freshman
Housing Scholarship. Courtney Bowden - Jacksonville
State University Faculty Scholarship; Auburn University
Spirit of Auburn University Scholarship, Auburn
University Board of Trustees Endowed Scholarship,
Auburn University College of Sciences and Mathematics
Charles R. Horton Endowed Scholarship, The Van
Deerman Scholarship. Nate Buckelew - Jacksonville
State University Faculty Scholarship. Devin Carter Jacksonville State University Faculty Scholarship.
Miles Clark - Birmingham-Southern College
Cornerstone
Award; Campbellsville
University
Academic Scholarship; Faulkner University Football
Scholarship; Florida Institute of Technology Florida
Tech Scholarship and Athletic (Football) Scholarship;
The University of Alabama at Birmingham Academic
Achievement Scholarship; The University of North
Alabama Vanguard Scholarship; Tuskegee University
Achievement Scholarship; The University of Saint Mary
Dean’s Scholarship; The University of South Alabama
Presidential Scholarship. Katie Cline - Jacksonville State
University Elite Honors Scholarship; The University of
Alabama at Birmingham Golden Excellence Scholarship;
Mississippi State University Entering Freshman
Academic Excellence Scholarship and Non-resident
Tuition Scholarship; The University of Montevallo
Presidential Honors Scholarship.
Will Cole - Chandler Foundation Music Scholarship;
Auburn University Spirit of Auburn Founders
Scholarship; Mississippi State University James Worth
Bagley College of Engineering Excellence Scholarship,
Mississippi State University Student Body President
Scholarship, Mississippi State University Entering
Freshman Academic Excellence Scholarship and Non-
resident Tuition Scholarship; Troy University Millennium
Scholars Award Scholarship; The University of Alabama
at Birmingham Golden Excellence Scholarship.
Garrison Cunningham - The University of Alabama
Foundation in Excellence Scholarship, The University
of Alabama Alumni Scholar Award, The University of
Alabama Alumni Heritage Scholarship. Jasmine Easley
- Tuskegee University Achievement Award; The West
Anniston Foundation Academic Scholarship. Bryan
Elam - Jacksonville State University Faculty Scholarship;
Exchange Club of Jacksonville Scholarship. Chris Elias
- Miles College Athletic Scholarship (Baseball). Carson
Franks - Gadsden State Community College Technical
Scholarship. Kyle Furlow - Elks National Foundation
“Most Valuable Student” Scholarship; The University
of Mississippi Academic Excellence Scholarship and
Non-resident Academic Excellence Scholarship, The
University of Mississippi STEM Major Non-resident
Scholarship; The University of Alabama Collegiate
Scholarship; The University of Alabama at Birmingham
Collegiate Honors Scholarship. Leah George - The
University of North Alabama Vanguard Scholarship.
Allison Hamilton - The University of Alabama CalhounCleburne County Alumni Chapter Norwood Hodges
Memorial Endowed Scholarship; The University of
Alabama University Supply Store Book Scholarship.
Tarribian Harris - The Brenda Malone Memorial
Scholarship Madison Harrison - Jacksonville State
University Gamecock Scholarship; The King’s College
Presidential Scholarship; The University of Alabama
at Birmingham Academic Achievement. Madelyne
Hayes - Jacksonville State University Gem of the Hills
Scholarship. Reid Hobbs - Jacksonville State University
Grace Hamric Scholarship and Jacksonville State
University Leone Cole Scholarship.
Lauren Johnson - Jacksonville State University Gem
of the Hills Scholarship. Devin Jurkowich - Bradley
University Dean’s Scholarship. Dustin King - Jacksonville
State University Gamecock Scholarship. Aubrey Kirk Jacksonville State University Gamecock Scholarship.
Lavontae LaCount - Andrew College Athletic Scholarship
(Baseball).Chance Marbut - Jacksonville State University
Faculty Scholarship. Austin Martin - Point University
Merit-Based Scholarship, Point University Leadership
Scholarship, Faulkner University Pioneer Award,
Faulkner University Athletic Scholarship (Soccer).
Zachary Mobley - Jacksonville State University
Gem of the Hills Scholarship. Katie Neisler - Samford
University Athletic Scholarship (Volleyball), BryantJordan Achievement Scholarship. Hannah Nelson Jacksonville State University Gamecock Scholarship;
Jacksonville State University Music Department
Scholarship (Jazz); Jacksonville State University
Band Scholarship. Morgan Owens - Jacksonville State
University Faculty Scholarship; The King’s College
Presidential Scholarship; Belhaven University Belhaven
University Award. Victoria Paige - AOD Federal Credit
Union Scholarship; The University of Alabama at
Birmingham Academic Achievement Scholarship. Amber
Quinn - The University of Montevallo Kilgore/Elledge
Scholarship; The University of Montevallo Bessie Beck
Scholarship; The University of Montevallo Christine
G. Callahan Alumni Honors Scholarship. Ali Ramsey Jacksonville State University Gamecock Scholarship.
Pooja Revanna - Birmingham-Southern College Trustee
Scholarship; The University of South Alabama Whiddon
Honors Scholarship; The University of South Alabama
Presidential Scholarship; The University of Alabama
at Birmingham Collegiate Honors Scholarship. Luke
Sides - Gadsden State Community College Technical
Scholarship. Alyce Sparrowhawk - Jacksonville State
University Faculty Scholarship. Benjamin Speer Jacksonville State University Eagle Scout Recognition
Scholarship.
Halee Stallings - The University of Alabama at
Birmingham Housing Scholarship. T. J. Stricklin - A. H
Skinner Scholarship (Auburn University) and Auburn
University Board of Trustees Scholarship. Dominique
Thomas - The University of Central Arkansas Athletic
Scholarship (Football). Mason Tompkins - Jacksonville
State University Faculty Scholarship. Jonathan Williams
- Lincoln College of Technology Select Scholarship.
Ryan Wilson - The University of Montevallo Joe and
Christine Callahan Calhoun County Scholarship,
The University of Montevallo Carrie McClure Knox
Scholarship, Jacksonville State University Gem of the
Hills Scholarship.
JHS graduate 106 on May 22 in stadium
By Lori Tippets
Jacksonville High School will
graduate 106 seniors on May 22
at 8 p.m. in the Golden Eagle
Stadium.
This year’s class will see its
graduates go to many diverse and
varied colleges. Academic scholarships have been offered to students from not only Jacksonville
State University, Gadsden
State, Alabama and Auburn,
but to UAB, North Alabama,
Montevallo, South Alabama,
Tuskegee,
Birmingham
Southern, as far away as Kings
College in New York and Bradley
University in Illinois and the
Lincoln College of Technology
in Tennessee.
Scholarship money offered is
more than $2,115,000.
Athletic Scholarships have
been offered at Samford, Central
Arkansas, Florida Tech, and
Andrews University in Georgia.
As diverse and varied as the
scholarship offers, so are the
students themselves. JHS Senior
Counselor Marcia Stallings says
that of this group of students
there are those wanting to be
physicians and those wanting to
be engineers. What sets this class
apart, according to Stallings, is
the creativeness of the class and
the fact that they all embrace
each other’s different gifts and
talents.
“This is a laid back class,”
says Stallings. “Their attitudes
are such that they have no worries. They are happy to be here,
enjoying day to day with not a
lot of sense of urgency. They
are very sweet, very familial
and mothering. They may bicker
among themselves but if you go
Honors Diploma Graduates
after one of them, you get them
all.
“They look out for one another
and are very caring towards each
other.”
Stallings sees this class as
one that doesn’t stress over academics, “They do fine,” says
Stallings, “but they’re not like
groups in years past when we’ve
had larger groups really pushing
themselves and competing academically.
“They’re different; not a bad
different, just different.”
What is very unique about this
group of graduating seniors is
the success athletically that they
have been a part of and have contributed to. The volleyball team
won the state championship, the
football team went to the playoffs, as did the baseball team, the
boys and girls soccer team and
the girls basketball team found
its way to the regional tournament.
With so many talented and creative students, Stallings says she
looks forward to seeing what
this graduating class does with
their lives.
SPOTLIGHT STUDENT
Pooja Revanna overcomes obstacles
By Lori Tippets
Jacksonville High School seniors receiving honors diplomas are William
Joshua Thomas Cole, Jackson Reave Bell, Devin Paul Jurkowich, Kyle
Weber Furlow, Katherine Eloise Neisler, Alexis Morgan Owens, SarahRegina Courtney Bowden, Katherine Elizabeth Cline, Hali Autumn
Blankenship, Allison Amanda Hamiltonand and Pooja Ratna Revanna.
If anyone ever had the right not to graduate from
high school it would be Pooja Revanna. Overcoming
tremendous obstacles, Revanna is not only graduating from high school but is doing so with a 91.00
GPA and is in the top 10 of her class.
On October 16, 2010, Revanna was diagnosed
with acute lymphocytic leukemia, an acute form of
leukemia.
Revanna had been feeling sick for a long time. She
thought that she just had a bad case of food poisoning. Her eyes then stated turning yellow but Revanna
put that off as being jaundice.
After that she began to feel better for a while, so
her parents, mother, Dr. Brunda Revanna and father,
Muddu, made a trip to India where the family is
originally from. (Pooja had come to the United States
as a baby).
During fall break while Revanna’s parents were in
India she stayed with relatives in Virginia and started
feeling a lot worse to the point that she couldn’t keep
anything down. “One day I asked f it was lightning
outside but it was sunny,” remembers Revanna.
Her aunt and uncle decided to take Revanna to
urgent care and when they took her blood they discovered her liver enzymes were off the charts. When
her mother was given the numbers with her physician
Pooja Ratna Revanna
■ See REVANNA, page 10

Download Report