Namedropper 4-22-08

Karen Beltran; Jason Boeskin; Janelle Barnicle; David Kovac

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KAREN BELTRAN

Karen Beltran, a student at Southwest Junior High School, has been accepted to attend the Johns Hopkins Center's academic programs for gifted students from second through 12th grade.

Some of the courses available are archaeology, oceanography, robotics and existentialism, which help students to work at a challenging pace, explore topics in depth and study subjects not often available to students their age.

Beltran will be taking whales and estuary systems during her session this summer. She joins several thousand other students from across the U.S. who qualified for the Hopkins study.

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JASON BOESKIN

Jason Boeskin, a San Luis High School senior, has won the 15th annual essay contest for The Sunrise Optimist Club of Yuma. This year's theme was "Today's Choices Shape My Future."

He received a gold medal and a $500 U.S. Savings Bond. Boeskin's essay will be submitted to state and possibly international competition.

All high school students under the age of 19 were invited to participate in the contest. Optimist International is one of the largest and most active service organizations.

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JANELLE BARNICLE

Janelle Barnicle of Yuma recently made the dean's list at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. Barnicle, studying early childhood education, has completed the fall 2007 classes with a 3.4 grade-point average.

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DAVID KOVAC

David Kovac of Yuma has been named a dean's list honoree at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. Kovac maintained a 3.50 grade-point average for the fall 2007 semester.