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The Culver Academies' Batten Scholars

Class Entering for the 2002 - 2003 School Year

The following students are the fourth class of Batten Scholars.

Eighteen semi-finalists were selected from among 200 applicants

and invited to visit the campus

for a weekend of school activities, interviews and Batten Scholars dinner.

The following seven finalists were selected from among those 18.

Alexia Clay

Junior and third-year student Alexia Clay is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kimball Clay of Rochester, Indiana. She has received four Gold A Awards at Culver. Attained with a grade-point average of 3.7 or better, the award is the highest academic honor available during a given semester. She also earned her second varsity letter in softball while starting at catcher and leading the state in home runs. She led the Eagles to their second sectional title in school history as a freshman. The ICGSA selected her third-team all-state both years.

Molly Emerson

Decatur, Georgia, native Molly Emerson is a junior and third-year student. The daughter of Mr. William Emerson and Mrs. Maureen Downey has received a Silver A Award and two Gold A Awards during her first two years at Culver. She also has lettered in varsity cheerleading and varsity lacrosse, which has won three consecutive state titles.

Nani Obringer

Nani Obringer of Arden, North Carolina, is a senior and third-year student after finishing her freshman year at Chattahoochee High School in Georgia with honors. The daughter of Mrs. Zhou Yi Obringer has received four Gold A Awards at Culver and performed in the spring play as a sophomore. Because of these accomplishments, she recently was inducted into the Blue Key Society, the top scholastic honor society for juniors at the Academies.

Barbara Shepard

Sylvania, Ohio’s Barbara Shepard is a senior and third-year student at Culver after completing her freshman year as an honor student at Sylvania Southview. The daughter of Ms. Jean Doebler has received four Gold A Awards at Culver. She also earned a second varsity letter in swimming and diving in 2004 and performed in the spring play as a sophomore. Based on her academic accomplishments, she recently was inducted into the Blue Key Society, an academic honor organization for juniors. A member of the freshman chorus, she also participated in Girl Scouts, volleyball, diving, track and her church youth group in Ohio.

Sarah Keesecker

Sarah Keesecker is a senior and third-year student after being selected as English Student of the Year, Latin III Student of the Year, and Scholar Athlete of the Year as a freshman at Trinity Preparatory School in Winter Park, Florida. The Deland, Florida, native and daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert P. Keesecker has received four Gold A Awards. Because of these accomplishments, she recently was inducted into the Blue Key Society, the top scholastic honor society for juniors at the Academies. She earned her second varsity letter in fencing in 2004 and captained the team.

Recently, Keesecker was the only college-bound student in Indiana and one of 38 in the U.S. to achieve a 36, the highest possible composite score, on the December 2003 national test administration of ACT Assessment. About 4,000 Indiana students, and 332, 000 from across the nation, completed the ACT college-entrance exam on December 13, 2003.

Jennifer Sawicki

Jennifer Sawicki of St. Petersburg, Fla., is a junior and third-year student at Culver. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Felix J. Sawicki, she has received four Gold A Awards, indicating an average of 3.7 or better for each semester at Culver. She earned a varsity letter in fencing as a freshman and varsity letters in fencing, soccer and lacrosse as a sophomore. Jennifer was selected to fence in the Junior Olympics in 2004 and is ranked in women’s sabre in the state of Indiana. She is a member of the girl’s drill team, and was selected for the summer High School Scholars Program at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg.

Erik Seabolt

Cleveland, Georgia, native Erik Seabolt is a junior and third-year student at Culver. An honor student at White County Middle School, Seabolt participated in builders club, agricultural science, and Spanish. He was a state finalist in the social science fair and his works have been published in the Georgia Book of Young Authors and the Anthology of Poetry by Young Americans. He was a member of the football and basketball teams and was a member of First Baptist Church, Northeast Georgia Boy Scout Troop 140, Order of the Arrow Mowogo Lodge 243 and Woodman Lodge 1942. At Culver, he has earned one Silver A and one Gold A Award and lettered in varsity crew.

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