The Grand Forks Public School District had the most students in the state selected as semifinalists for the 2017 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program, which honors distinguished graduating seniors throughout the nation.
Three seniors at Red River High School and one at Grand Forks Central High School have been named semifinalists for the program.
Red River High School's Prem Thakker was named a U.S. Presidential Scholar semifinalist. Red River's Kyle Korman and Rebecca Rage and Central's Evan Welsh were named semifinalists as U.S. Presidential Scholars in Career and Technical Education.
They are among the 10 U.S. Presidential Scholars semifinalists from North Dakota.
About 800 students nationwide were selected, and as many as 161 will be chosen as Presidential Scholars.
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SkillsUSA
Grand Forks Central and Red River high school students recently placed in the top rankings at the 44th annual North Dakota SkillsUSA State Leadership and Skills Conference in Bismarck.
SkillsUSA is a national organization that serves trade, industrial, technical and health occupations students in public high schools, career and technical centers and schools, and two-year colleges.
These students placed in the SkillsUSA competitive event programs, and each received a medal:
Grand Forks Central High School: Oliver Dalmi, second place, computer programming; Alex Elliott, second place, internetworking; Gordon Isler, Jake Sturges and Patrick Lamberson, first, second and third place respectively, technical drafting; and Soren Loyland and Brayden Leake, first and second place respectively, information technology services.
Red River High School: Kyle Korman and Sam Witucki, first and third place respectively, computer networking; Josh Severud, third place, information technology; and Matt Peterson and Ethan Walker, first and third place respectively, computer programming.
Isler, Korman, Loyland and Peterson are eligible to compete at the National Leadership and Skills conference in June at Louisville, Ky.
Speech tournament
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Six local high school students placed at the North Dakota Class A Speech Tournament in April in Jamestown.
Top-place winning students and their categories are:
Grand Forks Central High School: Adam Mastel and Nichole Rothenberger, third place, and Emily Cox and Sean King, fourth place, Humorous Duo; and Francine Dong, sixth place, Extemporaneous Programmed Reading.
Red River High School: Trevor Weiland, fourth place, Storytelling.
HOSA conference
Red River and Central high school students earned top honors at the North Dakota HOSA-Future Health Professionals Leadership Conference in March in Jamestown. HOSA stands for Health Occupations Students of America.
HOSA-Future Health Professionals is a career and technical education organization for students in high school and college. Students compete in a variety of occupational skill areas during the conference.
Students who placed in their programs at the conference are:
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Red River High School: Isabel Fetsch, fifth place, nurse assisting, and 10th place, creative problem solving (team); Mikale Kuntz, 10th place, nurse assisting; Alex Sorenson, ninth place, poster display; and Sarah Lancaster, Cassidy Mindeman and Hannah Schreiner, 10th place, creative problem solving (team).
Central High School: Brooke Grinde, Grace Grinde and Erin Peck, second place, public service announcement (team); Lexi Grinolds, Madison Nelson, Madison Schultz and Natalie Simon, first place, health career display (team); Janee Harris, third place, job-seeking skills; Brianna Moncada, third place, prepared speaking; and Miranda Weiss, second place, physical therapy.
Students with the top three finishes are eligible to compete at the HOSA National Leadership Conference in June at Orlando, Fla.
