ACHIEVEMENTS.

Byline: The Register-Guard

7 Willamette graduates earn $4,000 scholarships

Seven Willamette High School graduates were among 63 students statewide who graduated as the first ECMC Scholars. This honor represents their dedication and hard work in pursuit of higher education and includes a scholarship of $4,000 to be used for their first year at a postsecondary institution. Each ECMC Scholar is eligible for an additional $2,000 by attending a second year of higher education.

The students are Nathan Brown, Ron Francola, Kaleena Granger Dixon, Benjamin Lee, Jeffe Pineda Alvarado, Seth Ramirez and Rachell Simpson. Seven other original scholars either moved away or did not fulfill the expectations laid out in the program guidelines.

The ECMC Foundation has pledged $1.38 million to date in higher education scholarships to Oregon students.

In 2006, the foundation, in partnership with the Oregon Department of Education, selected seven high schools to participate, according to need-based criteria. An eighth high school, LaPine, was added in 2007. Each school formed a Scholars Program Committee, which includes guidance counselors, teachers and other educators. The committees choose students they feel would most benefit from additional mentoring and involvement in a special scholarship program, and whose past grades and test scores may not have indicated their true potential.

Windermere announces art contest winners

Windermere Real Estate has announced the grand prize winners of the Winder-mere Art Challenge, a sports-themed art contest for kids in kindergarten through grade 12. The contest was held in connection with the company's partnership with the Eugene 08 Festival, which will take place June 27 through July 6 during the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field.

The winners were, in grades K through 3, Delaney Pietsch, a third-grader from Creslane Elementary, whose artwork, called "Let the Games Begin," features cats playing basketball; in grades 4 through 7, Aisha Winkler-Rios, a fifth-grader from Buena Vista Elementary School, whose piece, "Concentration," depicts an athlete in a pole vault competition; and, in grades 8 through 12, Bhakti Patel, a junior from Willamette High School, whose entry is a drawing of boxer Floyd Mayweather.

More than 130 students entered the contest.

In addition, Windermere hosted a Beautiful Oregon-themed art contest for kids enrolled in enrichment programs at nonprofit organizations. The winning piece, a watercolor depiction of an Oregon forest, was created by fifth-grader Jesse Jacobs from Committed Partners for Youth.

All Art Challenge winners will receive four sky suite tickets to one day at the Olympic Trials competition in Eugene. Their artwork, as well as other select contest entries, will be on display at the Windermere tent at the Eugene 08 Festival. The display also will include Oregon--themed watercolors from students at McKenzie Elementary.

School reaches top level of 'green' certification

Territorial Elementary in Junction City is the first school in Lane County to receive the highest level of Oregon Green School certification. Territorial's long-standing successful recycling program gives third- and fourth-graders interactive learning experience when they collect and chart data related to not only recycling, but the food scraps from the cafeteria that are composted in the school garden as well.

In addition, Pleasant Hill Middle School also moved up one level this spring, receiving Merit certification because it helped neighboring Trent Elementary set up a lunchroom recycling program.

Fourteen schools in Lane County hold Green School certification, but Territorial is the first to reach "Premier" status. Pleasant Hill joins Churchill High School in boasting "Merit" level certification. The Oregon Green Schools Association offers this certification program.

For information on the program, visit www.oregongreenschools.org.

Scholarships awarded to twoThurston graduates

The Iota Chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa, an international women's educational sorority, has awarded two $500 scholarships to 2008 graduates. The recipients, both planning careers in education, are Brittany Arch and Ashley Brennan, both from Thurston High School.

Springfield club awards scholarships to 4 seniors

Springfield Emblem Club No. 506 has awarded scholarships to four graduating seniors. Sarah Sullivan of Springfield High School received a $500 Presidents scholarship; Amanda Miller and Paige Bender of Thurston High received $500 Emblem scholarships; and Savannah Austin of Mohawk High received a $300 Literacy scholarship.

Eugene student scores high in language contest

A student from Eugene Christian School recently won high honors in this year's WordMasters Challenge, a national language arts competition entered by more than 230,000 students annually.

Eighth-grader Michael Busse competed in the difficult Blue Division of the challenge, making only three errors over the course of the year's three-meet competition. In a field of almost 29,000 eighth-graders, this placed him among the 17 highest-scoring in the nation in the year-end cumulative standings.

He was awarded a medal and certificate of recognition at the eighth-grade graduation on June 10.

Other ECS students who also achieved outstanding results in the final meet were fifth-grader Rachel Rimmer and third-grader Alex Steele.

7 graduates bound for LCC win $1,000 scholarships

LibertyBank has announced the recipients of seven $1,000 "Making a Difference" scholarships for graduating seniors at Eugene and Springfield high schools who will attend Lane Community College this fall.

Recipients are Wyatt Henry Porter, Churchill High School; Bethany Schimmer, North Eugene High School; Mariah Butts, Sheldon High School; Jessica Patel, South Eugene High School; Rajeana Pancake and MatthewSchroeder, Springfield High School; and Jessica Lee, Willamette High School.