Mrs. Husek's 7th- and 8th-grade gifted students put their leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills to the test during their annual gifted Salt Fork/Summit trip, where they worked creatively on a simulation of the inner workings of the state and federal legislative process. Our 14 teams competed against 30 teams in total, with approximately 100 gifted 6th-, 7th-, and 8th-grade students from several local schools. Four of our freshmen, Harper Poe, Morgan Horan, Joe Telford, and Alex Norman, were selected to serve as Councilmen, helping to run this year's program.
Here are all of our award winnings for 2026:
Team Wins:
- Representing the state of Kansas - Sophia Saho, Allie Kosek, Joey Gray, Jack Carpenter, & Grace McFarland - 2nd place for Commercial
- Representing the state of New York - Brylee Boggs, Ava Stoner, Ariana Klee, Savannah Norman, & Ava Holden - 1st place for Commercial
- Representing the state of Kentucky - Bennett Wade, Cole Redilla, Jonathan Powell, & Macort Myser - 2nd place for Cultural Display
- Representing the state of New Jersey - Aidan Markel, Mason Kiene, Gavin Glitch, Luke Kiene, & Austin Duplaga - 2nd place for Best Bill of Law
Individual Wins:
- Grace McFarland - 1st place in the Citizenship contest
- Shekinah Palmer - 2nd place in the Essay contest
- Liam Rine - 2nd place in the Geography contest
- Winning Outstanding Representative Awards - 12 awards given out of approximately 100 students - Ryan Bowman, Kynlee Judge, Jonathan Powell, Luke Kiene, Rylee Devore, & Leighla Rykowski.
- Winning Outstanding Leadership Awards - 2 per school - Luke Kiene & Aubree Stan for exemplary speaking skills
- Earning elected spots to attend the 2027 Summit as Chairmen - Ciara Bunner, Landen Spears, & Aubree Stan