By Ashley McCleery

The North Jefferson News



This month, the Jefferson Board of Education is honoring over 400 fifth-graders for their achievements on the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT).

Each student honored took the SAT, which tests reading and math skills, last year and scored at least a 75 with a companion score of 88. Since the scoring is based on percentiles, these scores indicate that only 25 percent or 12 percent of the fourth graders in the nation received a higher score than these students.

In order to recognize their academic success and encourage their potential, the school board congratulated 226 fifth-graders on Thursday night with a ceremony at First Baptist Church of Gardendale. The board will honor the remaining 205 students on Nov. 8.

“These kids have potential, and we need to know that and honor that,” Nez Calhoun, public information director of Jefferson County Board of Education, said. “We’re doing our duty in honoring them by alerting the school and parents that they’re national merit scholars.”

At the ceremony on Thursday, scholars from Bryan Elementary, Gardendale Elementary, Mt. Olive Elementary and Warrior Elementary were congratulated with a certificate and an academic medallion. Students from Snow Rogers Elementary, Fultondale Elementary and Corner Elementary will be awarded Nov. 8.

Mt. Olive Elementary School principal Judy Sullivan said she’s proud that a third of her fifth grade students are scholars, and she’s grateful for the school board’s recognition. “Jefferson County Board of Education realizes the importance of it, and they want to honor students so students will strive to do good academic work.”

Debra Campbell, Bryan Elementary School’s principal, said she was grinning during the whole ceremony. “It’s an honor for the fifth grade students because they’ve worked hard since kindergarten,” Campbell said. “They’ll probably be the leaders of tomorrow.”



Bryan Elementary

Principal: Debra Campbell

Counselor: James Warren

Kathryn Armstrong

Laurin Barnett

William Braxton Barnwell

Bellamy Bennett

Mary Claire Chumley

Joshua Luke Criss

Noah Cross

Claudia Jewel Dunavant

Brier Denham

Seth Holland

Abby Jasper

Angel Johnson

Andrew King

Jonathan Love

Laiken Mann

Kristopher Morrison

Hannah O’Brien

Nicholas Osburn

Eden Pritchett

Brittany Purvis

Melanie Rogers

Marcus Sharit

Makenzie Singletary

Derek Smith

Thomas Clay Walker

Allison Watts

Alyssa Whitaker

Sam Wilson

Robert Bradis Worthington



Gardendale Elementary

Principal: Ellen Andrews

Counselor: BJ Hale

Nicholas Bagwell

D.J. Barber

Jillian Beasley

Blake Belcher

Tori Black

Logan Carter

Chase Carter

Allyson Crenshaw

Cameron Decker

Savannah DeLuca

Christian Everhart

Roxie Faulkner

Savanna Gorman

Hannah Gray

Anderica Gunnerson

Jake Hyde

Karleigh Irwin

Brianna Jackson

Summer Johnson

Jessica Jones

Lauren Landreth

Lindsey Lawing

Matthew McGrady

Tyler Martin

Lauren McClure

Erin Nation

Tiffany Posey

Abbey Rowell

Joshua Scarborough

Brandon Sharp

Elizabeth Shelnutt

Jessica Smith

Rachel Stokes

Kelci Tuggle

Tristan Van Bogart

Meghan Waters

Trenton Waters

Kendall Weber

Cody Whitaker

Christopher Willingham

Kimberly Wise

Cole Youngblood



Mount Olive Elementary

Principal: Judy Sullivan

Counselor: Celia Latimer

Alyssa Fields

Hayden Green

Shiann Harper

Hunter Harris

Kendall Jackson

Sarah James

Anderson McDuffie

Isabel Riggs

Maegan Tubbs

Leah White

Katherine Lewey

Andrea Grogan

Holden Hunt

Paige Wilson

Andrew Blake

Scott Clements

Ryan Cook

Ciara Edwards

Tyler Green

Beverly Thompson

Jerri Todd



Warrior Elementary

Principal: Mike Frugoli

Counselor: Kristi Watts

Ethan Ballard

Marshun Bell

Nathanael Blackburn

Spencer Crane

Cameron Harding

Dakota Johnsey