Pats on the back
By Chris Walker (Contact)
Originally published 01:27 p.m., April 18, 2008
Updated 01:27 p.m., April 18, 2008
Each Friday, The Gazette salutes those who make Emporia and the surrounding area a better place to live and work. Give these folks a pat on the back ...
Emporia Main Street, which is sprucing up downtown with cleanup days. They held two cleanup days, one on the 15 and 18.
• Emporia High middle school students Oasis Hernandez, Talia Smith, Katie Weiser, Dallas Shafer, Derek Ricketts and Emily Giffin, who were honored by the Duke University Talent Identification Program for scoring well on college entrance exams.
• Michelle Stueve, who accepted an invitation to play the WNBA’s Washington Mystics’ training camp.
• Kristi Briggs, who won Jackson Hewitt Tax Service’s $10,000 Cash Give Away. Briggs is an administrative assistant at ESU.
• Emporia State University professor Abdelilah Salim Sehloaui, who received recognition for his work in English-language learning. He received the recognition from the Kansas Association of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages and Bilingual Educators.
• Aldo Sandoval, who was declared winner the Best Teen Chef of America competition in Dallas. He is now raising money to advance to national competition in Las Vegas on May 18.
• Emporia Police Officers Todd Ayer, David Holmes and Larry Adams, who will receive state awards for their roles in saving a child who had fallen through ice at Peter Pan Lake.
• Joe McIlvain, a senior at Madison High School, who was named a National Merit Scholar.