Finalists announced for Student of the Year

May 21—Six finalists still have a chance to win Student of the Year and a new car.

Patriot Auto Group and the McAlester News-Capital continued a partnership to recognize area high school seniors through a Student of the Year program — with judges narrowing the field to six finalists ahead of the May 26 banquet and announcement of the winner.

"We thank Patriot Auto Group for partnering again with us to honor and recognize these students for everything they do for our community," News-Capital Publisher Reina Owens said. "Our finalists again represent the best of our area with so many students excelling in the classroom and helping to give our community a brighter future."

This year's banquet is scheduled for May 26 at the McAlester Country Club — where the Student of the Year winner will be announced and given a new car through Patriot Auto Group.

Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. with the banquet set to start at 6 p.m. McAlester Mayor John Browne is scheduled to emcee the event.

The top 6 finalists include:

—Savanna's Ariana Byington

—McAlester's Carsyn Gragg

—Calvin's Kylee Tollett

—McAlester's Emilee Coxsey

—Crowder's Madison White

—McAlester's Taylor Kelley

Byington said she wants to attend the University Of Oklahoma. She received several academic scholarships, earned honors on the Superintendent's honor roll, Oklahoma Honors Society, National Honors Society, Superintendent Joy Hofmeister's Student Advisory Council, and Good Citizen, and is the Chapter representative of the Choctaw Nation Youth Advisory Board McAlester chapter.

Gragg said she plans to attend Oklahoma State University and pursue veterinary school. She was a McAlester High School student of the month, Oklahoma Academic All State nominee, Executive President of Student Council, President of MHS's National Honor Society, Captain of MHS varsity girls soccer, lead drummer on MHS drum line, received several scholarships, and is involved in multiple organizations and activities.

Tollett is graduating a year early and plans to attend Brigham Young University-Idaho for dental school. She is graduating first in the class with a 4.17 GPA, helps with bimonthly food drives at her local church, and has interned for roughly a year at McAlester Regional Health Center and McAlester Dentistry and Braces to gain experience and witness several different types of careers.

Coxsey said she plans to attend the University of Oklahoma and major in Aerospace Engineering. She is the reigning Miss McAlester, received thousands in scholarship money, was a finalist for National 4-H Youth In Action STEM Pillar Finalist and State 4-H Hall of Fame, won the 2021 Blue Award, helped McAlester win state in pom gameday and hip hop routines, received the 2021 Keep Oklahoma Beautiful Youth Achievement Award, and much more.

White said she wants to attend Oklahoma State University and pursue a career that best fits her. She is the valedictorian at Crowder, received academic excellence in history awards 2018-2021, received the academic excellence in Mathematics, Science, and English awards 2019-2021, helped Crowder advance to the girls basketball state tournament in 2020-2021, and has a 4.0 college GPA with a high school GPA of 3.9.

Kelley said she will attend the University of Missouri, where she plans to major in journalism and minor in creative writing. She is ranked first in her class, lists myriad awards through 4-H at the local, state and national levels, won the 2019-2020 Student Athlete of the Year award, and is involved in the Back 2 School Giveaway, Christmas Toy Giveaway, Silent Auction Fundraiser, Pittsburg County Talent Show, and several community events.

High school seniors become eligible for Student of the Year with local school officials nominating them. A selection committee picks the students of the month throughout the year and narrows the field to the finalists and the eventual winner.

A selection committee narrowed the field to six finalists instead of five due to a tie in scoring from the previous round.

The finalists completed a video essay and a written essay as part of the final round — with the winner to be announced at the banquet.

Tatton Manning, Patriot Auto Group principal dealer, said he's impressed each year with the finalists and was again this year.

"I don't know how the kids even sleep with all the things they do with the volunteerism, and we have some athletes in the top as well, so you think about what it takes to be part of a team, then excel in the classroom and excel outside of it," Manning said. "It's really great and we're just excited to see it continue."

The Student of the Year will win a new car and be featured on the cover of the upcoming June edition of "McAlester Living."

Manning said he started the program in 2015 with the first vehicle given to the Student of the Year in 2016 at the Bartlesville dealership — with Patriot Auto Group giving students at least a dozen vehicles through the program since then. He said the program stemmed from the idea of recognizing students for their work in the classroom and in the community.

Patriot Auto partnered with the McAlester News-Capital in 2019 for a program highlighting students in McAlester and the surrounding areas.

Crowder's Kiley Watkins became the first McAlester-area Student of the Year in 2019 and McAlester's Zoie Newman won the award in 2020.

Contact Adrian O'Hanlon III at aohanlon@mcalesternews.com