Yellow Springs News Online

7 scholars recognized at YSHS

Seven Yellow Springs High School seniors have been recognized by the National Merit Scholarship and the National Achievement Scholarship Programs. The students are, front row, from left: Elizabeth Brown, Aaron Zaremsky and Rebecca Guest; back row: Tina Peters, John Pamplin, Carey Dixon and Tina Chen.

Seven students in the senior class at Yellow Springs High School have been recognized by the National Merit Scholarship and the National Achievement Scholarship Programs for scoring well on the Preliminary SAT/NMSQT, a college entrance exam, that they took last year as juniors.

In the Merit program, Elizabeth Brown, Tina Chen and Carey Dixon qualified as semifinalists, and Aaron Zaremsky and Tina Peters received commendation for their performance. In the Achievement program, John Pamplin and Rebecca Guest were honored as outstanding participants.

Though many of the students insisted they are secretly a bunch of slackers, the students admitted to reading a lot and getting involved in a slew of activities in and outside of school that helped build their confidence and supported the belief that they could accomplish whatever they set out to do.

“If you get used to doing anything you want to do, and if you’re taught you can do it, you want to go out and try for more,” Brown said. “It’s neat that everyone gets a chance to be involved here and try out.”

Three of the students, Brown, Zaremsky and Peters, have attended Yellow Springs schools from kindergarten through high school and received a huge amount of individualized attention and supplementary academic support, they said. Peters recalled her excitement in the sixth-grade interest learning education program that allowed her and several other students to build a laser with scientist-in-residence Jim Grote and send a signal from the school board office to Mills Lawn School for the morning announcements.

“We had to figure it out on our own. It was a challenge,” Peters said. It spurred her curiosity about physics and science, she said.

Others, such as Pamplin, who attended grade school at Nightingale Montessori, and Dixon, who attended the Antioch School, said they were encouraged to work at their own pace and according to their own ability to understand the concepts and lessons.

At Nightingale, Pamplin said, students stayed with a lesson until they were able to get an “A” on the test to indicate they really understood the material. Then when Pamplin came to YSHS as a freshman, he said, he liked that everyone got a chance to participate in the sports and music groups of their choice. “Even if you weren’t that good, you got to play, and you got better each year,” he said.

The small number of course choices at a school the size of YSHS is limiting, Zaremsky said, but even that can be supplemented by taking classes at area colleges, studying online or taking advantage of the resources in the community and participating with a local organization, like he did with the YS Kids Playhouse or like Peters did with the Miami Valley Astronomical Society.

The three National Merit Semifinalists, who are among the 16,000 students who qualified nationwide, are eligible to receive recognition as finalists. They will be evaluated by additional criteria, such as grades, co-curricular participation and leadership qualities, and will be notified in February of their advancement.

Brown, who has participated in theater, orchestra and piano and is the president of United Society, plans to study French at DePaul University next year.

Chen has been involved in soccer, swimming, cross country, School Forest, Mock Trial and United Society. She plans to start a pre-medical program next year.

Dixon has participated in cross country, tennis, swimming, soccer, track, Mock Trial and Quick Recall as well as the orchestra and School Forest groups. He plans to study science, math or engineering in college.

Zaremsky has participated in theater, band, Quick Recall, Mock Trial, golf and School Forest. He plans to study the classics in college.

Peters has been involved in cross country, track, basketball, racewalking, band, School Forest, United Society and Mock Trial, and she hopes to study physics in college next year.

Guest has participated in theater, pottery, Student Council, piano, orchestra, cross country and United Society and plans to attend the University of Kentucky, where she will study anthropology or sociology.

Pamplin is the concertmaster of the school orchestra and has also participated in soccer, basketball and track. He plans to study orthopaedic medicine in college.