Local students receive scholarships, named AP scholars

• Emma Stone and Christian Lynn, both of St. Charles, are among nine freshmen at Elgin Academy who have received merit scholarships for the 2007-08 academic year.

Emma is the daughter of Jim and Christina Stone of St. Charles. Christian is the son of Jim and Randy Lynn of St. Charles.

The $1,000 scholarships are based solely on academic achievement and determined through a combination of grade point average and standardized test scores. The students must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or above and score in the top 5 percent nationally on either the quantitative reasoning or verbal reasoning section of the test.

"Both Emma and Christian exhibit the quest for academic excellence that Elgin Academy seeks to instill in all of its students," said Dr. John Cooper, head of school in a prepared statement. "We are glad to have them as part of our freshman class."

Elgin Academy, chartered in 1839, is one of the area's largest private, college preparatory schools with more than 600 students.

• Marmion senior Christopher Heuman of Aurora has been named a semifinalist in the 2008 National Merit Scholarship Competition. As a semifinalist he is eligible to compete for 8,200 merit scholarship awards with over $33 million.

The nationwide pool of semifinalists was designated on a state representational basis with the number of semifinalists in each state based on its percentage of the national total of graduating high school seniors. Semifinalists are the highest scoring entrants in each state and represent less than one percent of the state's seniors.

Marmion Academy is a college preparatory school in Aurora.

• The following Aurora Central Catholic Class of 2007 graduates have been named as advanced placement scholars by the College Board in recognition for their exceptional achievement on the college-level Advanced Placement Program exams.

The program offers high school students the opportunity to take college-level courses while still in high school and allows them to earn college credit.

The following students completed their tests before graduation in May:

Anthony Karafiat of North Aurora; Matthew McDowell of Aurora; Anna Pauls of Sugar Grove; and Stacey Piotrowski of Sugar Grove received an average of 3.0 or higher on three or more exams. Karafiat is currently attending Gonzaga University on an academic scholarship; McDowell is attending Notre Dame University; Pauls is attending Marquette University; and Piotrowski is attending Michigan State University on academic scholarship.

Megan Lawless of Batavia received an average grade of 4.0 or higher on four or more of their exams. Lawless is currently attending Cornell University.

Aurora Central Catholic, a co-education Catholic High School with an enrollment of over 470 students.