Steven Wooten, Ashton Farmer, and Joey Bender will represent LOHS at GSP this summer.

Corey Adams

Business Manager

    Recently, three juniors from Lone Oak High School were sent letters of acceptance from Governor Beshear for this summer’s Governor’s Scholar Program. Ashton Farmer (11), Joey Bender (11), and Eileen Doan (11), and Steven Wooten (11) have been accepted to the 2012 session.

    These selected juniors are given a once in a lifetime opportunity to attend college for 5 weeks in the summer. The colleges that are available are Centre College, Bellarmine University, and Murray State University. All tuition, board, room, and field trip expenses are covered. The core curriculum for these summer sessions is threefold: Focus Area, General Studies, and Seminar. GSPers can study a wide variety of subjects ranging from Studies In Astrology to Russian Culture and Language. Nikolas Anderson (12), a 2011 GSP scholar, studied Astronomy.  Since the program is designed to get students acclimated to a college environment, it doesn’t enforce a grading scale or assignments but does focus on college-level work and discussions.

    GSP isn’t all work and no play.  Organized activities exist outside the classroom. Anderson states, “We were given lots of freedom. We were given the opportunity to belong to a number of student clubs and engage in student activities. The numerous field trips were exciting and socially entertaining. On many occasions, we were allowed to choose between various functions the program set up for the us.”  But Anderson echoes the feelings of many former GSPers when he says, “The very best thing about GSP is the people you meet.”   

    Aside from the experiences and the friendships, one of the biggest advantages to attending GSP is the scholarships that come with successful completion of the GSP program. Two of the state’s most dominant universities, University of Louisville and University of Kentucky, give full ride scholarships for Governor’s Scholars who earn a minimum score of 28 on the ACT, while maintaining a 3.30 GPA or higher. Close to 2,000 applications were sent on to the state level after the initial district selection stage. It is an honor to be accepted into the program. “I’m excited. It is hard to skip out on 5 weeks of summer, but it’s going to be totally worth it,” says Ashton Farmer (11). The Program’s mission statement is to “enhance Kentucky’s next generation of civic and economic leaders” and LOHS students will surely exceed these expectations.

“...enhance Kentucky’s next generation of civic and economic leaders...”