2 County Seniors Academic All-State

Two McClain County seniors in the Class of 2021 have been tabbed as recipients of the prestigious Academic All-State Award.

Lucy Wilson of Purcell High School and Evan Booth of Washington High School have been chosen as two of the top 100 public high school seniors.

The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence has announced the recipients in the top 100 that were selected from 379 nominations statewide.

Both Wilson and Booth become the fifth Dragon and fifth Warrior to be selected since the program’s inception in 1987.

Previous Academic All-Staters from Purcell include Meegan Moore in 1998, Rachel Renbarger in 2009, Shianne Andrews in 2016 and Ashley Howard in 2018.

Previous All-Staters from Washington have been Matthew Price in 1993, Garrett Street in 2001, Jacob Hart in 2003 and Raychel Kozik in 2013.

Wilson is a three-year recipient of the Letter P award, in the National Honor Society, Oklahoma Honor Society, Superintendent’s Honor Roll, Top 10 Percent, Governor’s Award for Science and is on the Academic team.

She is vice president of both the Key Club and National Honor Society, on the band leadership team and is drum line captain and pole vaults for the track team.

Wilson is the second captain of the academic team and an ambassador for the National 4-H Shooting Sports. She is a national qualifier in recurve archery and air rifle and she is a State Record Book finalist and winner. She is president of the McClain County 4-H and McClain County 4-H ambassador. She is president of the Purcell 4-H Club and vice president of the More Outdoor Adventure Club. She is also public relations officer for the rabbit club.

Booth is a National Merit Semifinalist and is a college board national rural and small town recognition program winner.

Among his other extracurricular activities are National Young Arts Foundation competitor, All-State Jazz Band, All-State Orchestra, All-State concert band and was in the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute Orchestra.

He is All-Region Honor Band for the Southwestern Oklahoma Band Director’s Association, a member of the Shortgrass Honor Band and has been a member of the Washington High School Concert, Marching and Jazz Bands.

Booth is the high school Academic Team Captain and Co-founder and was the highest scoring player in the Mid-America Academic Bowl Conference in 2020 and third highest in 2019. He is a three time participant in the R. Daryll Fisher statewide Creative Writing Contest and placed first in Advanced Music Theory and Music Fundamentals at the Southwestern Interscholastic Meet.

Booth is a member of the National Honor Society, has volunteered at the Purcell Public Library and is a member of the Washington Science Club.

Each of this year’s All-Staters will receive a $1,000 merit-based scholarship and a medallion. The All-Staters will be recognized at the foundation’s 35th annual Academic Awards Celebration May 22 at the Cox Business Center in Tulsa.

David Boren, founder and chairman of the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, describes the selection of the scholars as “Oklahoma’s most rigorous academic awards selection process.”

To be nominated for Academic All-State, students must meet one of the following criteria: an American College Test (ACT) composite score of at least 30; a combined SAT evidence-based reading and writing and math score of at least 1370 or be selected as a semi-finalist for a National Merit, National Achievement or National Hispanic Scholarship.

This year’s All-Staters scored an average of 33 on the ACT, with 11 recipients scoring a perfect 36. The students’ average GPA was 4.26. In addition, 34 of this year’s All-Staters are National Merit semifinalists, and two are National Hispanic Scholar semifinalists.

Academic All-Staters are selected based on academic achievement, extracurricular activities and community involvement, as well as letters of recommendation and an essay submitted by each nominee. The selection committee, which is chaired by retired Tulsa attorney Teresa B. Adwan, works independently of all other foundation activities. The committee members are a diverse group of business, education, and civic leaders, as well as past Academic Awards Program honorees.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Academic Awards Celebration will have limited attendance for the safety of honorees and their guests. The awards ceremony will be televised statewide May 29 by OETA, the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority. For more information, call the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence office at (405) 236-0006 or visit its website at www.ofe.org.