| 7/20/2007 3:00:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | Two Trimble students win national awards
Sara Denhart
Courier Staff Writer
Two students from Trimble County Schools have won United States Achievement Academy awards. This is the first year students from Trimble County have won the awards.
JaLynn M. Copeland, a seventh-grader at Trimble County Middle School, and Alex Rand, a sophomore at Trimble County High School, have been selected by a national selection committee that chooses which students win the awards.
The United States Achievement Academy recognizes less than 10 percent of all American students, and the prestigious honor is one that very few students ever hope to obtain.
Cathy Thorpe, a language arts teacher at Trimble County Middle School, nominated Copeland along with several other students to win the award. However, Copeland was the only one chosen out of Thorpe's nominations.
"I'm glad she won," Thorpe said. "I wasn't surprised."
Thorpe said Copeland is in the gifted and talented program at the middle school and is an accelerated reader.
"She's a very self-driven student," Thorpe said. "Things come easy to her in language arts."
Cathy Copeland, JaLynn's mother, said her daughter loves to read and is waiting to read the new J.K. Rowling book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."
"She's a speed-reader. She reads at a junior (11th grade) reading level," Cathy Copeland said. " We had no idea they nominated her."
JaLynn Copeland is the daughter of Cathy and Mort Copeland of Milton. Her grandparents are Connie and Benny Copeland of Madison and Carol and Charles Voglewede of Decatur, Ind.
At the high school, Bonnie Peugeot, an art teacher, nominated Rand for the art award. Rand is the daughter of Rick and Vicky Rand of Bedford. Her grandparents are Jean Rand of Bedford; Lena Perkinson of Bedford; and Reggie Rand of Milton.
Rand just completed her freshman year as an honor student at the high school and is an active member of the cross-country team, academic team and Beta Club. She is completing a study of art at the Apple Tree Studio in Bedford.
Rand was also inducted into the 2006-2007 National Honor Roll and has been named an All-American Scholar At-Large Award winner.
In order to be nominated, teachers had to review important standards for selection guidelines. Each participating faculty member evaluates the student body or academic department by using the achievement academy's standards. Students must demonstrate outstanding achievement, dependability, enthusiasm, dedication to self-improvement, attitude, cooperation, responsibility and leadership in order to be selected. The nomination form is then sent by the faculty member to the USAA executive offices.
Because Rand and Copeland were selected, the students' profiles will be published in a yearbook, which lists all the students across the nation who were selected for the honor this year. The students will also be eligible for scholarships later in their academic careers to use toward paying for higher education opportunities.
"Recognizing and supporting our youth is more important than ever before in America's history," said Dr. George Stevens, founder of the USAA. "Certainly, USAA winners should be congratulated and appreciated for their dedication to excellence and achievement."
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