- Chelsea Whitehurst , of Aiken, has received a $2,500 Eve Kraft Education; College Scholarship from the USTA Tennis & Education Foundation.

- The top readers this year at A.L. Corbett Middle School for the Accelerated Reader Program were:

Nina Overton, Jasmine Tyler, Rakeem Hicks, Loretta Fields, Brian Rodgers, Tamara James, Reshoniques Gleaton, Brandon Medlin, Joseph Colvin, Tamias Kenner, Emily Schettler, George Gallop and Brantley Swartz .

Top readers were Nina Overton, seventh grade and top Accelerated Reader; Rakeem Hicks, eighth grade; and Jasmine Tyler, sixth grade.

- Ginger Dunker , of Aiken, has been selected as the High School Teacher of Excellence for 2008-29 by the National Council of Teachers of English.

- The following students took the top places for the Eighth-grade Transitional Math yearly test at Paul Knox Middle School:

Mercedes Addie , first; Alden Sullivan , second; and Paul Gregory , third.

- Lynne Clarke , health science technology instructor at the Aiken County Career and Technology Center, has been selected to attend two of 20 summer study opportunities supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

- Kayla Howard and Taylor Wright received sixth-grade Character Awards at Paul Knox Middle School.

- The following North Augusta residents have earned degrees this spring from Georgia Southern University, Statesboro:

Charles Denney , doctorate of education administration; Tiffany Isaac , master of science in kinesiology; and Vincent Rowland , master of accounting.

- The property of Carolyn and Dick Wood , in Beech Island, has been certified as an official Backyard Wildlife Habitat site by the South Carolina Wildlife Federation.

- James Collin Davison , of North Augusta, has been promoted to B Company sergeant 10th grade at Camden (S.C.) Military Academy.