Two High School Scholars Who Really Make the Grade

Erika Gibson, a senior at High Point High School is Scholar of the Week for the Prince George's County public schools. She has a 4.10 cumulative grade-point average, serves as vice president of the National Honor Society at her school and is a member of the National Foreign Language Honor Society.

Gibson has taken Advanced Placement courses in English literature, psychology, calculus, biology and world history. She was a member of the girls' basketball team, the track and field team and a former football team manager. She also is a staff writer for the Beacon school newspaper.

Gibson plans to pursue a double major in marine science and biology at the University of Miami. She has been accepted to the University of Maryland in College Park and the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Among the awards she has received are Maryland Distinguished Scholar (Honorable Mention), High Point Junior Distinguished Scholar Award and 2008 National Achievement Scholarship Program (Outstanding Participant).

She traveled to China in 2007 as a student ambassador for the People to People program. She volunteers her time teaching Bible study classes, working for the March of Dimes and for the county-sponsored Gorgeous Prince George's Day. She has earned more than 1,000 community service hours and works 20 hours a week at a local retirement community. She attended Buck Lodge Middle School as an eighth-grader.

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The Scholar of the Week last week was Morgan Sills, a senior at Gwynn Park High School. She has a 3.90 cumulative grade-point average. She is a member of the National Honor Society and has taken Advanced Placement courses in chemistry, calculus, statistics and literature.

She is a member of Future Business Leaders of America, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the senior class board, the homecoming committee, Mu Alpha Theta (mathematics honor society), Beta Club, the concert choir, Black Ice Step Team, the basketball team and the track and field team. She also serves as a peer tutor.

She plans to pursue a degree in meteorology and has been accepted to Rutgers University, Penn State and the University of Maryland.

Sills volunteered with Girls Inc. in St. Louis and was a peer tutor with elementary school and middle school students. She has received numerous awards, including consistently making the honor roll and being selected as a National Achievement Scholar and Rotary Club Student of the Month. She also participated in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Weather Camp at Howard University in Washington.