Steubenville BOE recognizes student accomplishments

STEUBENVILLE -- The Steubenville Board of Education recognized two students for outstanding academic and athletic accomplishments during its Sept. 16 meeting.

Aaron Newman, principal of Steubenville High School, and Jackie Reeves, a guidance counselor, introduced senior Cole Carey, who has been named a National Merit Semifinalist.

Selected based on outstanding scores on college entrance examinations, National Merit Semifinalists represent less than 1% of all high school seniors in the United States.

"His scores are some of the highest I've seen in my career," Newman said, noting Carey earned a 1,520 on the SAT, which has a maximum score of 1,600.

Newman added that Carey earned a perfect or near-perfect score in each section of the ACT, with a composite score of 35.

Newman and Reeves also noted Carey's involvement in school activities.

"He's a stellar student citizen who leads by example in the building," Newman said.

Carey, the son of Rachel and Aaron Carey, is a member of the Steubenville High School orchestra, marching, Crimson and jazz bands, Thespian Troupe 5393, H2O Pros Club, Key Club and the Bethany College Band.

He also is working toward dual associate degrees in arts and sciences from Belmont College through the school district's College Credit Plus program.

Asked about his future plans, Carey said he has not yet decided which college he will attend but is interested in biochemistry.

National Merit Semifinalists go on to compete for about 6,700 National Merit Scholarships totaling approximately $24 million, which will be awarded in the spring.

Also recognized was Steubenville High School freshman Chaise Scruggs for his accomplishments in track and field.

Dave Sanders, Scruggs' coach at Harding Middle School, said Scruggs was a member of the Steubenville Striders, an independent track club, before joining the middle school's track team.

As a seventh grader, Scruggs qualified for the state track meet, where he competed against a field made up entirely of eighth graders. After working hard to prepare for the following season, Scruggs returned to place fourth in the 100-meter dash and second in the 200-meter dash while earning a gold medal in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.24 seconds.

As a member of the Cleveland Express track team, Scruggs also competed this summer in the AAU Junior Olympic Games, a national event held in Des Moines, Iowa.

Scruggs won the 400-meter event with a time of 49.04 seconds and placed fourth in the 200-meter event with a time of 22.38 seconds.

"These were just his main accomplishments. He has won several medals and broken several stadium records on his path to these championship meets," Sanders said.

Scruggs was accompanied at the meeting by his parents, Anthony Scruggs Jr. and Celina Gomez.