JOHN BLUE ACADEMIC AWARDS PRESENTED

Thirty-one high school students were honored at the 38th annual John Blue Academic Excellence Banquet sponsored by the Rotary Club of Cape Girardeau.

The club honors students in the top 10 percent of their graduating class.

"What we are trying to do with the academic excellence banquet is show that Rotary cares about young people and also about excellence in education," said Dr. Dieter Jedan, chairman of the academic excellence committee.

The Rotary club is a service organization, Jedan said. "We can promote that by encouraging them to put service above self," he said. "Excellence means giving something back to the community."

About 170 people attended. Students were allowed to invite those the students felt they owed a thank you to.

Principals from both Cape Girardeau Central High School and Notre Dame presented the awards.

Honorees and their parents:

Central High

Andrea Benton, Mr. and Mrs. Tim Benton; Kandra Bowers, Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Bowers; Benjamin Chisman, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Riggs; Lesley Clarke, Susan Clarke; Vijay Dahiya, Mr. and Mrs. Jai Dahiya; Anne Doner, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Doner; Jeremy Driskell, Mr. and Mrs. Dan Driskell; Alisha Gammon, Diane Gammon; Elizabeth Green, Mr. and Mrs. Ken Green; Kelly Hilterbrand, Melinda Hilterbrand; Justin Jones, Mr. and Mrs. Ken Jones; Rahul Kamath, Dr. and Mrs. Prabhakar Kamath; Deborah Kerr, Bonnie Kerr; Elizabeth Kunz, Mr. and Mrs. David Kunz; Laura Lukens, Mr. and Mrs. Steve Lukens; Branden McCullough, Mr. and Mrs. Jim McCullough; David Meyr, Mr. and Mrs. Delvin Meyr; Dax Miller, Mr. and Mrs. Lynn Miller; Leanne Pierce, Stanley Pierce; Kevin Pingel, Mr. and Mrs. Martin Roth; Trent Redfearn, Mr. and Mrs. Mike Redfearn; Wade Russell, Mr. and Mrs. Keith Russell; Mark Scarborough, Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Scarborough; Jodi Shelby, Mr. and Mrs. Mitch Shelby; Elizabeth Shivelbine, Mr. and Mrs. Mike Shivelbine; Laura Sides, Diane Sides; Bonnie Taylor, Dr. and Mrs. Phillip Taylor.

Notre Dame

Nathan McGuire, Mr. and Mrs. Jay McGuire; Jeffrey Mueller, Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Mueller; Julie Eftink, Mr. and Mrs. David Eftink; Natalie Jones, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Jones; Kelly Fisher, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Fisher.

Members of the Rotary Club committee: Jedan, chairman; Leonard Clark, Morrell Diebold, Jeff Krantz, Charles Kupchella, Bryce March, Richard Martin, Darla Matlock, Gerry McDougall, John Niswonger, Ivan Nothdurft, Neil Stein, Dick Swaim and Dale Nitzschke.