ST. MARY’S CITY — Five students from five St. Mary’s County high schools went home with books chosen for them by a college English professor after St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s Phi Beta Kappa chapter recognized them for academic achievement on Nov. 5.
The college’s Zeta Chapter hosted its 29th annual Phi Beta Kappa Book Awards on campus, the college announced Nov. 10. The honorees are:
- Juliette Grant, Chopticon High School
- Luke Annulis, St. Mary’s Ryken High School
- Cheyenne Coleman, Leonardtown High School
- Laura Boynton, Great Mills High School
- Matthew Alston, The King’s Christian Academy
The group spans the county’s three public high schools and two of its private schools. Each student received a pair of books tied to his or her interests, selected by Jennifer Cognard-Black, a professor of English at the college who coordinates the award for the chapter.
College President Rhonda Phillips congratulated the students and told them learning involves more than grades, assignments or a degree. It is also about “developing curiosity,” she said, along with building critical thinking and the judgment people carry through their lives.
Phillips also recognized St. Mary’s College sophomores who were invited to the ceremony for their own academic records. Angie Draheim, a staff member in the college’s psychology department who serves as the chapter’s secretary, took part as well. Alston was not in the group photograph the college released from the event.
A 250-year-old society with a local chapter
Phi Beta Kappa, founded in 1776, is the oldest academic honor society in the United States and is marking its 250th year. It grants chapters to a limited number of colleges and universities, and membership is generally reserved for top students in the liberal arts and sciences.
St. Mary’s College received its chapter in 1997, which means the book awards for local high school students began almost as soon as the chapter did. The college, Maryland’s public honors college, enrolls about 1,650 students on its campus along the St. Mary’s River.
The awards are one of several ways the college’s academic programs have reached beyond campus this fall. In October the college won a $495,296 federal grant for a brain research course.
The college did not release the titles of the books each student received or say how honorees are nominated.
