Achievers

Oratory winners

The Optimist Zone Level Oratorical Contest was held at West Ashley High School.

The subject of the speeches was "Cyber Communication -- Progress or Problem?," focusing on how cyber communication has affected the world and their lives. On hand to deliver their award-winning speeches were:

--Boys: Jordan Elum and Wade Alexander, both of the Charleston County School of the Arts; Zack Hilliard of Fort Johnson Middle School; Ronnie Chatterjee of West Ashley High; and Andres Myers of St. Andrew's Middle School.

--Girls: Emily Hart of School of the Arts; Altoria Brown of Morningside Middle School; Renee Cooper of the School of the Arts; Delaney Robinson of St. Andrew's Middle; and Ashley Pendergist of Fort Johnson Middle.

Emily Hart was the Zone Level winner in the girls category, while Jordan Elum won first place among boys.

Doctoral thesis

Former James Island resident Kristi L. Engelman recently defended her doctoral thesis at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She will conduct post-doctoral research on catalytic oxygen atom transfer as part of the Center for Enabling New Technologies through Catalysis at North Carolina State University.

Engelman is president of the Association of Chemistry Graduate Students at UNC and is a daughter of David and Sandi Engelman of James Island.

SOA honors

Charleston County School of the Arts sophomore Angelica Halvarsson recently was awarded first place and Best of Show in the Department of Natural Resources Reel Art Competition.

School of the Arts sophomore Weston DeWolff also received the same award for the DNR's Junior Duck Stamp competition.

Another sophomore, Allesandra Acierno, has been named one of 10 finalists for a national competition being held in Washington, D.C., in honor of Endangered Species Day.

Emory honors

Alec Fox and Elon Stricker of Charleston, were named to the dean's list of Emory College, the undergraduate, liberal arts college of Emory University in Atlanta.

Students must be in the top 20 percent of Emory College or have a 3.85 GPA or higher to be on the dean's list.

Alumni award

John Paul Huguley of Charleston was honored at Birmingham-Southern College's Alumni Awards Luncheon. Huguley, a native of Gadsden, Ala., received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award.

He is a 1993 BSC graduate who is a structural engineer and preservation champion. After graduation from BSC, he studied at the University of Virginia, followed by a year of training in London, England.

He founded and became first president of the American College of the Building Arts in Charleston.

Composition Fest

The Cooper School's Evan Oates (Grade 5) and Oliver Kendall (Grade 2) won honorable mentions in the Music for Young Children (MYC) Composition Festival.

A total of 12,718 students took part in MYC's Composition Festival, which is in its 23rd year.

Under the direction of Hazel Ketchum, the musical instrument instructor and choir director, Cooper School students learn to play and compose songs on the piano.