Education Extra Achievements.

Byline: The Register-Guard

ATHLETIC ACE: Bill Bowers, athletic director at Springfield High School, has been named State Athletic Director of the Year by the Oregon Athletic Directors Association. Bowers earlier was selected director of the year for the Midwestern League and the statewide 4A Division. Bowers, in his 30th year as a math teacher in Springfield Public Schools, has been Springfield High's athletic director for eight years. Before that, Bowers was head baseball coach for 14 years and an assistant football coach for 26 years.

4-H SCHOLARSHIP: Melyna Randall of Creswell was one of eight Oregon 4-H members to win scholarships awarded by the Oregon State University Extension 4-H Youth Development Program. Randall received a $1,000 scholarship established by the Oregon 4-H Foundation.

BAND AWARDS: Thurston High School band students recently performed in two competitions, winning third place honors in each. The Thurston Winter Percussion Ensemble placed third in the Northwest Winter Drum Championships in Vancouver, Wash., on March 23, and the Thurston Jazz Ensemble placed third in its division at the Reno Jazz Festival in Reno, Nev., held April 19-20.

SHELDON RECYCLERS: Sheldon High School won a $500 award from the Association of Oregon Recyclers for the school's 15-year-old recycling program, one of the most comprehensive in an Oregon high school. Sheldon students recycle up to 25,000 beverage containers each year, using the $25 or so each week from deposits to pay for student activities. Furniture also is recycled or reused. The school donates $100 of annual proceeds to the McKenzie River Trust, a local land conservation group.

MATH MAVENS: Springfield High School seniors Ashley Redfern and Margues Haley have been recognized for their outstanding achievements in the study of mathematics. Redfern and Haley will receive certificates of merit issued by the Oregon Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the Oregon Department of Education. They were selected by the school's math department on the basis of diligence, creativity, growth and effort in math.

AWARD WINNERS: Two local students have received awards from the United States Achievement Academy.

Katy Lumbra of Marist High School was honored in the areas of leadership and service, English and honor roll.

Kala Thomas of Creswell Middle School was honored in the English area.

Both will be named in the academy's yearbook, which is published nationally.