Read about 2010 student achievements here.

Achievements

2008-2009 Achievements

See 2007-08 Achievements below.

School-wide Achievements

Seniors Audrey Cook (Greenville), Taylor Davidson (Anderson) and Shelby Switzer (Columbia) qualified as finalists for the National Merit Scholarship. These finalists serve as the highest scoring entrants in each state, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors.
AJ Brannum (Columbia) was chosen as a finalist for the National Achievement Program Scholarship, which provides recognition for outstanding African American high school students. Of the more than 150,000 students who entered the National Achievement Program, only 1,300 are selected as finalists.
Ten Governor's School students qualified for the State Level 2009 National History Day Competition held at the State Archives in Columbia, S.C.
The following students qualified for the National Level 2009 National History Day Competition held in College Park, MD:
- Group Website on Andy Warhol: Keenan Shepard and Emily Sizemore
- Individual Documentary on Rachel Carson: Jake Ross
- Group Performance on "Peg Leg" Bates: Erin Lusk and Danielle Peters
- Individual Website on Lizzie Borden (Alternate): Sara Parker

Creative Writing Achievements

At The Regional Scholastic Writing Awards Competition, a total of 43 Gold Key Awards were received among 13 of this year's creative writing students. Each of the entries was automatically forwarded into national judging.
At The National Scholastic Writing Awards Competition, Governor's School students won 21 of the 28 awards given to high school writers in South Carolina. Our students collected 5 Gold Medals and 16 Silver Awards.
Senior Neha Parthasarathy (Simpsonville) was one of 141 finalists to compete in the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA) YoungARTS Competition in Miami. Only 22 writers were invited from around the country. Neha's poetry won a Silver Award and a check for $5,000. As a result of her award, Neha was invited to spend a week in New York - all expenses paid - with other Silver and Gold Award winners. She was also a finalist for the Presidential Scholar in the Arts Award.
Senior Sammi Bryan (Anderson) received an Honorable Mention Award and a check for $250 from the NFAA YoungARTS Competition, which means her short fiction entry placed her in the top 5% of almost 8,000 entries nationwide.
Neha Parthasarathy also won Second Place, out of approximately 2,000 entries from around the world, for her poetry entry in the Bennington College Young Writers Competition. With this ranking, she received a $250 check.
Junior student Jermaine Simpson (Elko) was awarded an honorable mention in the Skylark Poetry Contest, sponsored by the Poetry Society of South Carolina.
The following students placed at the South Carolina Writers Workshop High School Writing Competition:
o Mary Beth Hanner (St. Matthews) - First Place, fiction
o Wynne Hungerford (Greenville) - First Place, poetry
o Sammi Bryan (Anderson) - Second Place, poetry
o Uchechi Kalu (Orangeburg) - Honorable Mention, poetry
o Jake Ross (Greenville) - First Place, nonfiction
o Mimi Amado (Columbia) - Second Place, nonfiction
o Sammi Bryan (Anderson) - Honorable Mention, nonfiction
o Shelby Switzer (Columbia) - Honorable Mention, nonfiction.
Mike Roberts (Greenville) won the 2009 Archibald Rutledge Scholarship in Poetry. Governor's School creative writers have won this award two of the past three years.
Aerie International, which receives hundreds of submissions from high school students around the world, accepted a story by Jake Ross and a poem by Wynne Hungerford.
The New Mexico Poetry Review, a brand new literary magazine in Santa Fe, accepted a poem by Shelby Switzer, unknowing that she was only in high school.

Music Achievements

Junior saxophonist Zee Slaughter (Columbia) participated in a piece of history when he was invited to play with the renowned Skipp Pearson Foundation Big Band at the Grits and Granite Inaugural Ball for President Barack Obama, jointly sponsored by the Democratic Parties of South Carolina and New Hampshire, at the Fort Myers Officers Club in Washington, D.C.
After the Region Orchestra auditions took place this past October, five of our string students were then invited to participate in the November performance of the 2008 Upstate West Region Orchestra.
Junior violist Josh Dieringer (Greer) was selected to perform in the fall as a soloist with the Greenville County Youth Orchestra Philharmonic.
Meghan Henson (Darlington), Carrie Frey (Clinton), Sterling Tyler (Conway), Audrey Cook (Greenville) and Nick Gerald (Taylors) were invited to perform in a public master class with the Miami String Quartet of Kent State University.
Five students received winning marks at the South Carolina Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) State Senior Division Competition held at Bob Jones University in Greenville.
- Lonnie Russell (Summerville) - Winner in Piano
- Andrew Smith (Columbia) - Winner in Brass
- Ben Chen (Simpsonville) - Alternate in Woodwinds
- Kathryn Breazeale (Pickens) - Honorable Mention in Brass
- Audrey Cook (Greenville) - Honorable Mention in Strings
Pianist Lonnie Russell, only a sophomore, was chosen to be the featured solo artist at the Festival of Keys held at Anderson University, having been selected after his win at the MTNA State Senior Division Competition.
Junior violist Carrie Frey won First Place in the annual Carolina Youth Symphony Concerto Competition, receiving the opportunity to solo with CYS in March. Carrie also earned Third Place in the South Carolina American String Teacher Association Solo Competition and was advanced to the national division.
Senior vocalist Morgan Roach (Taylors) and junior vocalist Catie Devoe (Walhalla) participated in the Classical Singer Competition at Converse College. Morgan received Third Place and Catie was a finalist, permitting eligibility for both to compete in the National Competition in Chicago.
String players Audrey Cook and Carrie Frey were selected as finalists in the Greater Anderson Music Consortium Concerto Competition. The two were also chosen from over 30 applicants to advance to the semi-finals of the Hilton Head Symphony Concerto Competition. Audrey won Third Place and an invitation to perform with the Hilton Head Youth Orchestra later in their season.
Junior violist Carrie Frey was accepted in the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute. She was one of only 70 students selected to participate in the NSO Youth Fellowship Program, a four-week study program held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. that includes private lessons, coachings by National Symphony Orchestra members, classes and lectures to prepare aspiring musicians for their futures in music.
Junior harpist Siobhan McLaughlin (Chester) was requested to perform for the Wilkins Legislative Award Reception in Columbia held at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.
Junior trumpeter John Britt (Georgetown) and senior clarinetist Ben Chen (Simpsonville) were among 20 contestants chosen on the basis of recordings to perform in the First Annual Master Recital Festival, sponsored by the South Carolina Band Directors Association.
Seniors Alex Bedillion, viola (Spartanburg); Ben Chen, clarinet; and Daniel Klaeren, oboe (Rock Hill) were selected to perform as soloists in the Carolina Youth Symphony Senior Honors Concert.
Lonnie Russell won the Charleston Symphony Orchestra League Scholarship, which he plans to use to attend the Brevard Music Center this summer.
Piano students Erin McMullin (Aiken), Lonnie Russell and Tegan Watts (Greenville) had the honor of participating in the "Juilliard in Aiken" workshop in March, which featured members of the Juilliard faculty in master class settings.
Senior clarinetist Ben Chen was selected as a recipient of the Emerson Scholarship, a full-tuition award to attend the prestigious Interlochen Arts Camp for the summer of 2009. Every year, Emerson scholarships are awarded to 52 students throughout the United States, based on the strength of a student's experience and audition.
String students Alex Bedillion, Joshua Dieringer, Carrie Frey and Michael Byrd (Spartanburg) were selected for the 2009 South Carolina All-State Orchestra.
Fourteen of our music students were selected for All-State and Region Bands.
The music department took its biennial tour abroad, this year traveling to Italy to perform choral and instrumental concerts in historical venues in Mantua, Florence and Rome. The tour culminated with a performance at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, a true highlight of the trip.

Visual Arts Achievements

At The Scholastic Art Awards Competition, Governor's School students received two of only four American Vision Awards that were distributed. Other honors at this competition for our visual arts students included:
- 4 Gold Key Awards
- 4 Silver Key Awards
- 9 Certificates of Merit
The Governor's School made a clean sweep at the Upstate Regional Picasso Project Student Art Competition at the high school level, securing the top 3 winning spots. Madeline Mikolon (Tega Cay) took First Place, Tanya Grechina (Simpsonville) took Second Place and Kate Barnwell (Greenville) earned Third.
Senior student Tanya Grechina was awarded "Best of Show" at the state level of the Picasso Project. Her award-winning print is on exhibit at the State Museum in Columbia, later to be auctioned during a benefit gala for the Children's Trust of South Carolina.
Junior student Shirley Chan (Goose Creek) received an Honorable Mention in the national Utrecht High School Art Self Portrait Competition.
Zach Nesmith (North Augusta) won First Place in the National Juried High School Medals Exhibition, and Kayla Gifford (Aiken) took Second Place.
The Governor's School was asked to serve as one of only four high schools to participate in the 2009 Turner to Cézanne exhibition at the Columbia Museum of Art. Our visual arts students, past and present, have pieces prominently on display in the Wachovia Educational Gallery until August 2009.
The 19th Annual Upstate High School Art Exhibition, held at the Greenville Tech Greer Campus, exhibited 137 pieces of artwork represented by 20 different high schools. The Governor's School visual arts department had a very strong showing with 21 pieces in the show and 9 won awards (5 First Place, 3 Second Place, 1 Third Place).
o Lauren Scarborough (Columbia) - First Place, promotional design
o Emmy Persall (Chapin) - Second Place, promotional design
o Zach NeSmith - Second Place, fine art photography
o Jen Watson (Greenville) - First Place, ceramics
o Kate Worthen (Greenville) - First Place, metals
o Kate Worthen - Second Place, metals
o Kym Day (Myrtle Beach) - First Place, sculpture
o Lindsay Carroll (Greer) - Third Place, drawing
o Maria Arroyo (Lexington) - First Place, printmaking

Dance Achievements

Three Governor's School dance students qualified for the prestigious Youth America Grand Prix, an international student ballet and contemporary dance scholarship competition. Student participation included representation from USA, Brazil, Mexico, Europe and Japan. From the Governor's School were:
- Michael Agudelo, junior (Spartanburg)
- Kristie Landing, senior (Mt. Pleasant)
- Jonathan Spigner, junior (Greenville)
Jonathan Spigner was invited to study for a year at the Academie de Danse Classique Princesse Grace de Monaco in Monte Carlo.

Drama Achievements

Senior student Jessieh Johnson-Cunningham (West Columbia) participated in the exclusive National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts YoungARTS Competition and took home an NFAA Merit Award.

The following senior drama students received college Artistic Scholarships:

o Justina Adorno (Columbia) - Coastal Carolina University
o Ted Gwara (Columbia) - Southern Methodist University
o Kyndra Mack (Holly Hill) - Southern Methodist University
o Alex Wise (Lexington) - University of Illinois-Evansville

Faculty Achievements

Creative writing instructor George Singleton was the recipient of a 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in New York. This Foundation receives between 3,500 and 4,000 applications each year. Approximately 220 fellowships are awarded annually. George will receive a $40,000 nine-month award in August of 2009 to work on his forthcoming novel, Side Notes for a New Grudge.
Dance department chair and instructor Stanislav (Stas) Issaev was invited to be the head coach for Team Russia on NBC's hit reality show Superstars of Dance, a fierce and exhilarating international dance competition. Russia was one of eight countries represented, and Russian ballerina Maria Kochetkova brought home the Gold Medal in the Solo Category.
Daniel (Danny) Murray, chair of the drama department, starred in The Warehouse Theatre's January production of K2. He played alongside Paul Savas, Warehouse's artistic and executive director, in an intense portrayal of two mountain climbers who encounter an approaching storm on an icy ledge at 27,000 feet with inadequate gear, dimming daylight, and one broken leg. The show was a hit among our Governor's School community and the Greenville community at large.
Visual arts professor Dana Howard has been appointed by the College Board to the Advanced Placement Art History Test Development Committee. Dana will participate in writing text questions, presenting the philosophy of the test at professional conferences and assisting teachers at the AP Reading each summer. She will be joining a group of eight accomplished AP Art History teachers and university faculty on the committee.
This past summer, string faculty Kathryn (Katie) Dey was a guest artist at the Swannanoa Chamber Music Festival and conducted a master class at the North Carolina School for the Arts Summer Chamber Music Program.
String faculty Katie Dey was a featured presenter at the 2009 SCMEA State Convention held Charleston. Her presentation "Building Ensemble in your Ensemble" introduced strategies for building and strengthening communication in middle and high school string ensembles.
Flute instructor Caroline Ulrich, percussion instructor Sherwood Mobley, and viola instructor Katie Dey were featured performers in the Greenville Symphony Orchestra's Chamber Spotlight Series.

Alumni Achievements:

Governor's School drama graduate Nicole Beharie, class of 2003, recently starred in the movie American Violet, a Metro-Goldwyn feature released in April. Directed by Tim Disney, the film also featured veteran actors Alfre Woodard, Charles Dutton, Tim Blake Nelson, Michael O'Keefe and Will Patton.

This remarkable accomplishment is only one of many for Nicole. Now a critically hailed newcomer, Nicole first came to the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities as Nicole Browne from Orangeburg. She was a National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Finalist, a Level One Award Winner, and the Governor's School's first Juilliard acceptance, clearing the way for several more to follow. While at The Juilliard School, she received the prestigious Robin Williams Scholarship, a $50,000 award given once every two years to the most outstanding drama student at Juilliard. She was the first recipient of a unanimous vote from Juilliard's drama division faculty.

According to Daniel Murray, chair of the Governor's School drama department, "Nicole's success is a triumph for the Governor's School not just because she got her start here, but because she continues to exemplify the principles we teach and devote ourselves to each day. I hope all the members of our community can share in this success, take joy in it, and be inspired by it."

2007-2008 Achievements