Middle Schoolers 'Duke' It Out Scholastically

In the 2011-2012 Duke University Talent Search, or Duke TIP, 139 seventh-grade students from six middle schools achieved state- or grand-level recognition based on their scores on college entrance exams. A list of qualifying 43 Wildwood-based students follows in this article.

TIP stands for "talent identification program." It is the largest of its type of academic programs in the United States. Since its inception in 1980, more than 2 million students have participated.

The Wildwood-based students are among the 63,000-plus students nationwide who participated this school year in the Duke TIP by taking the ACT or SAT alongside high school students; many earned scores that rival or surpass those achieved by older students.    

“We are proud of our students’ achievements in the Duke TIP," said Jim Wipke, executive director of secondary education, in a Rockwood announcement. “Their scores are impressive and a reflection of their abilities, motivation and potential for success in high school, college and beyond.”

State Designation:
Katherine Dames
Grant Eickel
Madelyn Harvey
Hope Keeley
Brandon Keesey
Reuben Kern
Adhitya Murali
Evan Pina-White
Hannah Powell
Evan Spears

Grand Designation:
Sai Allu
Logan Coffman
State Designation:
Hannah Agolia
Lauren Bower
Sarah Dobson
Natalie Elser
Michelle Fan
Zachary Janicki
Sean Keegans
Lauren Kessler
Srikar Kommareddy
Jack Mazza
Haley McAndrew
Ryan McCarthy
Maxwell Miller
Nicholas Roberts
Arya Royal
William Schatz
Mary Joy Uebelein
Daniel Young

Grand Designation:
Amy Dai
Trevor Vogl
State Designation:
Katelynne Banton
Keegan Donlen
Nitara Margana
James Marshall
Julia Moeller
Charles Nosal
Kaleb Overby
Tim Palazzola
Shruthi Ramalingam
Sai Vogirala
Lisa Wu