There's only one way to close out the school year and that's with good news. Congratulations to the following Wakefield Middle School students:

* Ed Bartels was recently named a recipient of the Carolina Award for Outstanding Achievement in Science from UNC- Chapel Hill. The award is given to the top eighth- through 11th-grade students based on academic success and an essay.

* Cynthia Cao, also an eighth-grader, was accepted to the EPA Research Apprenticeship Program at Shaw University. Cao was chosen as one of 10 students out of 200 applicants.

* Erick Lanier, a seventh-grader, was selected to attend the state's legislators' school for Youth Leadership Development at East Carolina University.

Lanier was chosen based on his leadership potential and motivation to succeed. Seventh-grader Erica Saraceno was chosen as an alternate to attend.

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A future poet perhaps?

Jeffreys Grove fifth-grader Nathan Holzworth will have his poem "Happy Horseshoe Crabs" placed in the Ecological Research and Development Group's "Tales and Images," a compilation of paintings, drawings, tales and poems.

Nathan took his poem a step further by setting it to music with the help of his teachers. Winning entries from across the country are printed in the anthology on the organization's Web site, www.horseshoecrab.org. Nathan will receive a copy of the anthology.

Fifth-graders Rachel Jeffries, Nathan Trevillian, Kelsey Boone, Kristin Freeman and Allison Boone also participated in the contest. All of the students are members of the school's academically gifted program.

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And last, but certainly not least: Congratulations to the Class of 2006. You've crossed the finished line! I wish you all the best of luck in your future endeavors.

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