Oxford High School senior Anthony Sottile, bound for Ann Arbor, has received a nomination for a Robert C. Byrd Honors scholarship.
The Byrd Honors Scholarship is federally funded and state-administered and is designed ‘to recognize exceptionally able high school seniors who show promise of continued excellence in postsecondary education.? It is named in honor of U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia.
Sottile, who has a 4.0 Grade Point Average, plans to study something involving math, science or computers at the University of Michigan.
Both grade point average and Michigan Merit Examination are factors in the nomination for the scholarship.
Sottile, who found out earlier in March of his nomination, said he was happy about the news.
‘I felt good about myself and my achievements,? he said.
Sottile, whose favorite subject is chemistry, recently participated in a local qualifying event for the Science Olympiad national tournament in Detroit.
He and six other students from OHS were among about 250 students Detroit-area students on March 18 at the event.
There were also about 10,000 participants from around the nation competing. Sottile took 11th place among the top 12 qualifiers who will next compete at the national competition April 23 at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
There, he will compete against 900 nationally for a spot in the top 20.
‘This was the first year our school participated in this competition, and people said it was unusual for a first-year school to qualify,? Sottile said.
If successful at Dearborn, he will then practice for the international competition in England.
‘Anthony is an excellent student,? said Nick Yinger, who teaches chemistry at OHS. ‘He has on many occasions been an excellent back up in my AP class, in that, when I get stuck, he can usually give me a nice memory jog to get moving again. He also has been helpful in editing much of my lecture material for class.?