BIRMINGHAM – Eighty-nine outstanding rising high school seniors from 24 counties and 56 high schools in Alabama were selected to attend the 2017 Alabama Governor's School at Samford University June 18-30.
Four Cullman-area students were selected:
- Carley Byerley, of Cullman, Cullman High School
- Reilly Mills, of Hanceville, Cullman High School
- Brinkley Thornton, of Cullman, Cullman High School
- Jeremiah Wilson, of Bremen, Cold Springs High School
AGS participants are nominated by their schools on the basis of academic ability, leadership qualities, creativity and community service. Selection is also based on teacher and guidance counselor recommendations and written essays. Students attended classes on a wide range of topics, including health care, the American legal system, arts, video production, magazine production, research science, business, the Martian frontier, photography, the classics, web design, field biology, sports medicine, leadership, global citizenship and film studies. Classes are taught by Samford faculty and other professionals from the community.
During the two-week honors program, students also learn about scholarships and college study skills, attend a Birmingham Barons baseball game, work on a service project June 22 with the Woodlawn Foundation, attend a piano concert arranged specifically for them and hear about philanthropy while attending a dinner in their honor June 27 at the Birmingham headquarters of Protective Life.
This year's AGS participants represented an average ACT score of 29.28 and a grade point average of 4.27.
More than 2,000 of Alabama's best and brightest high school students have attended AGS since it began at Samford in 1987.
