Achievements.

Byline: The Register-Guard

ACHIEVEMENTS

Springfield district names Teacher of the Year

Nancy O'Kief, a language arts instructor at Thurston High School, has been named 2003 Springfield Teacher of the Year.

O'Kief has been teaching at THS since 1984. She is known for her enthusiasm and for her efforts to foster curiosity and a love of learning in her students.

O'Kief volunteers with the school's theater productions and is this year's yearbook adviser. She also is involved in community theater and church activities.

4 local students awarded National Merit Scholarships

Sheldon High School student Emily Ventura, and Theodore Johnson-Freyd, Wells O'Byrne and Nathan Reiff, all of South Eugene High School, have won $2,500 National Merit Scholarships.

Students are judged on their academic record, scores from two standardized tests, contributions and leadership in school and community activities, an essay describing interests and goals, and the written recommendation of a high school official.

The four students are among 2,500 high school seniors chosen from a pool of approximately 15,000 finalists.

Eugene teacher chosen to travel to Japan

Mary Jane Moffat of Walton will travel to Japan this month to participate in the Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program. Sponsored by the government of Japan, the program allows distinguished primary and secondary school teachers to travel to Japan for three weeks. Participants will meet with Japanese government officials, educators and students, visit a teachers college and cultural sites, and live with a Japanese family.

Moffat teaches second grade at Hillside Alternative School in Eugene. She is one of 600 teachers selected from a national pool of more than 2,500 applicants.

Sixth-grader's poem to be published in Highlights

A poem by Shannon Dennehy of Eugene, titled "Ocean Waves," will be published in the June 2003 issue of Highlights for Children magazine.

She is a sixth-grade student at Eugene Christian School.

Junction City student partakes in online event

Mariya Zhukova, an exchange student from Russia who attends Junction City High School, recently took part in an online event with exchange students from other schools and an American diplomat.

Students from the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program were invited to discuss the future of U.S./Eurasian relations with Michelle Logsdon, deputy director of the State Department's Office of Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of European Affairs.

The event was one of several activities provided by the U.S. Department of State and Project Harmony, an exchange organization for former Soviet schools and American high schools that facilitates educational, professional, cultural and community-based programs.

2 Springfield students named All-American Scholars

Melissa Stone and Eren Hastie, students at Springfield High School, have been named All-American Scholars by the United States Achievement Academy.

Students are selected for academic performance, interest and aptitude, leadership qualities, responsibility, enthusiasm, motivation, citizenship, attitude and dependability. Recommendation from a teacher or director also is required.

Eugene student earns language teaching scholarship

Jessica Jobanek of Eugene is one of four students chosen to receive a $500 scholarship from the Confederation in Oregon for Language Teaching, a statewide association of second-language teachers.

Scholarship winners were judged on grade point average in the language, a 300-word essay and two letters of recommendation. High school students must be in at least the third year of language study and rank in the upper third of their class.

Jobanek, a student at South Eugene High School, tutored Spanish-speaking migrant children in reading and math last summer.