who's neXt 5/5/11

Honors, Achievements

* Michelle Dirnberger of Jackson was named to the first semester high honors dean's list for 2010-11 at Stephens College in Columbia, Mo.

* David Robbins of Cape Girardeau was named to the dean's list for fall semester at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy.

* Danielle Robbins of Cape Girardeau was named to the dean's list for the fall semester at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy.

Lessley Dennington

Will Brost

* Three area high school seniors have been named to the 2011 Missouri Scholars 100, a statewide program that honors 100 of Missouri's top academic students in the graduating class of 2011. Joining this year's Southeast Missouri class are Will Brost of Notre Dame Regional High School and Lessley Dennington and Blake Kidd, both of Cape Girardeau Central High School. Missouri Scholars 100 is a program sponsored by the Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals to recognize the top 100 graduates from a combined graduating class in Missouri of approximately 60,000. Each student nominated had to satisfy the criteria of an academic decathlon, which includes 10 events designed to assess the academic strength of the student. The events include ACT or SAT scores, GPA, class rank, assessment of the student's transcript for academic rigor including upper level courses in mathematics, science, communication arts, social science and world languages, in addition to attendance, citizenship and involvement in cocurricular activities and community service. The students attended the Missouri Scholars 100 Luncheon on May 1 in Columbia, Mo., hosted by the association and the University of Missouri.

Zachary McDowell and Jordan Thomas, seniors at Jackson High School, were selected as honorable mention students.

* The Chaffee Robotics Team recently competed in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Championship at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. Chaffee team Semper Fi took part in the FIRST Tech Challenge, winning four of seven matches and finishing 28th out of 128 teams from across the world, according to a news release. "One of the highlights for Chaffee during the tournament was an 89 to 10 win in which team Semper Fi and their alliance partner were able to balance both robots and goals on the balance board during the 'end game,'" which gave an additional 40 points to their total score resulting in one of the highest scoring matches of the tournament, the release stated. A not-for-profit organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST inspires young people's interest and participation in science and technology.

-- From staff reports