Eun Sol Chon's kindergarten teacher gave her the good start she needed not only to succeed in school, but to adjust to her new life in America as well, Chon said.
Chon was one of the Bentonville High School seniors honored this week during the school's annual Academic Signing Day. The school's top 20 academic scholarship earners get a chance to talk about their accomplishments, but they also highlight one teacher who has made a big impact on them. The students present their teachers with medallions.
Northwest Arkansas Graduations
Here is the list of remaining graduation ceremonies for area high schools.
Benton County
• Arkansas Arts Academy: 2 p.m. today, Performing Arts Center, high school, Rogers
• Bentonville High School: 8:45 a.m. today, Bud Walton Arena, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
• Gentry High School: 7 p.m. today, Bill George Arena, John Brown University, Siloam Springs
• Gravette High School: 10 a.m. today, Gravette High School football field *weather permitting
• Pea Ridge High School: 2 p.m. today, Blackhawk Stadium, Pea Ridge High School **check high school website for inclement weather delays
• Siloam Springs High School: 1 p.m. today, Barnhill Arena, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Washington County
• Farmington High School: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Farmington High School’s Cardinal Arena
• Haas Hall Academy: 7 p.m. May 26, Fayetteville Town Center
• Har-Ber High School: 4 p.m. today, Bud Walton Arena, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
• Lincoln High School: 7 p.m. Thursday, high school gymnasium
• Prairie Grove High: 7:30 p.m. today, Prairie Grove Tiger Stadium
• Shiloh Christian School: 7 p.m. Thursday, worship center, Springdale campus
• Springdale High School: 1 p.m. today, Bud Walton Arena, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
• West Fork High School: 3 p.m. Sunday, Barnhill Arena, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Source: Staff Report
Chon was the only student who reached back to kindergarten for her most inspiring teacher. That was Melissa Myers, who taught Chon at Apple Glen Elementary School. Chon and her family had just arrived in the U.S. from their native South Korea.
"Everything was so new and I was unsure what to expect," said Chon. "(Myers) guided me. She encouraged me to retain my Korean values."
Chon is heading to Vanderbilt University this fall on a scholarship to study neuroscience. The total earned by Bentonville High's top 20 academic scholarship earners amounted to $2,999,000. A total for the entire class wasn't available Friday.
Many more millions of scholarship dollars have been awarded to this year's Northwest Arkansas high school graduates.
Jackson Hignite, a Springdale High senior, will attend the University of Notre Dame this fall. Notre Dame will give him about $50,000 per year to attend each year, he said.
Hignite is Catholic, a big reason Notre Dame appealed to him. The university's strong business school also attracted him. He added while Notre Dame gets the same kind of attention as many big schools, each class enrolls only about 2,000 students.
"I'm getting a very small community and family environment there," Hignite said.
Hignite and his Springdale High classmates were offered a combined $9 million in scholarships. Har-Ber High seniors have been offered $12.4 million, according to Rick Schaeffer, Springdale schools spokesman. Neither school's totals were complete as of Friday, Schaeffer said.
Har-Ber's Peyton Wood received more than $1 million in scholarship offers. He received offers from the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Military Academy, Baylor University, Texas A&M University and the University of Arkansas, Schaeffer said.
Students from the Rogers School District's two high schools received a combined $23 million in scholarship offers. Total scholarships accepted equaled $14.4 million, according to information provided by the district.
Joseph Saucier of Heritage High School has received an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy Preparatory School. An Air Force Academy education is valued at more than $400,000. Classmate Jacquelin Zazueta has been accepted to the Rhode Island School of Design with a total award of $138,000 over four years, according to the district.
Top scholarship earners at Rogers High School included Layla Flowers, who received $122,000 and is attending the University of Denver, and Alvaro Aldana, who received $113,000 and is attending the University of Arkansas.
Fayetteville High School graduates were offered more than $10 million, according to Alan Wilbourn, district spokesman. The class accepted $8.6 million.
Among Fayetteville's graduates this year was James McMahon, who received an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy. The total value of his scholarship is worth about $415,000, he said.
His grandfather went to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and inspired McMahon to follow in his footsteps, McMahon said.
"I'm definitely very excited to get started and I look forward to the experience as a whole. I'm mentally and physically preparing right now," he said.
He must report to the academy at 7 a.m. June 25.
Sarah Sullivan, another Fayetteville graduate, received a full-ride scholarship to the University of Tulsa, worth about $50,000 per year. She had other tantalizing offers, but ultimately chose Tulsa.
"It's bigger than my high school, but not by a ton," said Sullivan, who intends to study biochemistry and biology.
Sullivan was a National Merit finalist and an all-state flute player. She's achieved high academic marks despite her diagnosis in eighth grade as a type 1 diabetic. Her condition forces her to test her blood sugar about six or seven times per day, she said.
That condition requires a lot of management, but it has at least one positive: "It's a real good way to learn how to organize yourself and learn self-discipline," she said.
NW News on 05/16/2015