DR. GARY DAVIS NAMED HONORS PROGRAM DIRECTOR; 2003-2004 HONORS PROGRAM FRESHMEN ANNOUNCED

Dr. Gary Davis
UNK Symphonic Band director, 308.865.8497

Dr. Gary Davis, long-time director of bands at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, is the newly appointed director of the UNK Honors Program.

“I have been the director of bands for 14 years, and the opportunity to be involved with the administrative side by being the Honors director intrigued me,” Dr. Davis said. “I am really impressed with, and enjoy working with, the students, staff and assistant director Jane Christensen.”

Dr. Davis first became familiar with the Honors Program through working with the music students. As the director, he has had the opportunity to branch out and work with more students.

“I like seeing the support that Honors students give each other academically,” he said. “When a student graduates from the Honors program and says, ‘I loved the Honors Program because it was meaningful in helping me develop academically,’ then we were successful.”

Currently, there are 461 students in the Honors Program. Of those, 150 are freshman. To apply for the Honors Program, students must have a minimum ACT score of 26, rank in the top 25 percent of their high school class and complete a written essay.

The 2003-2004 UNK Honors freshmen are listed below alphabetically by hometown:

Alma-     Nicole Blum
Amelia– Aaron Rowse
Arapahoe-     Adam Haussler, Ashley Shearer
Arnold- Megan Strasburg
Arthur- Courtney Cullinan
Atkinson- Emily Osborne
Auburn- Abigail Om, Kari Wellman
Aurora- Stephanie Obermier
Beatrice- Elizabeth Fielder, Michael Springer
Bellevue– Leah Stortvedt
Bertrand- Stephanie Renken
Blue Hill- Danielle Schmidt
Broken Bow- Preston Larson
Burwell- Amanda Jeffres, Hanna Thoene
Central City- Mitch Broekemeier
Chester- Shawna Poppe
Columbus- Jenna Lehman, Rachel Wurdeman, Heather Zoucha
Crawford- Kelsey Johnson
Culbertson- Karolyn Grafel, Ross Oberg
Elba- Justin Spilinek
Elm Creek- Brandon Gunderson, Sarah Marshall, Jessica Sentelle
Elwood- Lauren Blessing
Emerson- Adam Becker
Fairbury- David Drees, Tyson Winslow
Franklin- Melinda Rasmussen, Karsen Zade
Fremont- Jordyn Dalton, Colleen McMickell, Travis Rump
Gering- Kara Flaharty, James Schledewitz, Andrew Stobel, Jaime Wendt
Gibbon- Dana Blaschko
Gothenburg- Sarah Blecha
Grand Island- Kelli Bunger, Russtanna Faimon, Alicia Mueller
Grant- Joshua Borowski
Hastings- Suzana Cook, Jenna Eichman, Kelsey O’Donnell, Meghan Vogel
Hazard- Clarissa Long
Henderson- Liesal Van den Berg
Hershey- Kathryn Bodenhamer
Holdrege- Breann Horn
Hyannis- Willie Hayward
Imperial- Brett Berry
Kearney- Morgan Anderson, Rebecca Blanton, Jacob Brooker, Amber Caprario, Jenna Derr, Chelsie Flanagan, Dustin Fread,      Karen Harp, Kellie Hawkins, Andrew Kampfe, Amy Malcom, Danielle McNeil, Kristin Moncrief, Mindi Snow, Elizabeth Stevens, Dana Stubbs, Samuel Widger
LaVista- Jeffrey Watson
Lexington- Jennifer Keim, Jessica Seberger
Lincoln- Lyndsey Clewell, Holly Esquivel, Jeffrey Smith, Sarah Stefkovich
Loup City- Kristin Day
Lyons- Marjorie Brownyard
McCook- Rocky Esteraich
McLean- Jamie Backhaus
Miller- Andrew Saathoff, Katy Saathoff
Minatare- Shelly Peters
Minden- Jenny Jameson
Naponee- Lindsay Schluntz
Norfolk- Heidi Spiegel
North Platte- Kelly Pueppka, Kari Sawyer, Jeffrey Teters
Odell- Dania Wallinger, Dawn Wallinger
Ogallala- Tanner Holscher
Omaha- Siobhan Duffy, Kevin Grate, Christopher Kempner, Elizabeth Killip, Travis VanHouten, Griffith Watson
Ord- Patrick Breitkreutz
Papillion- Dawn Oltman
Pleasant Dale- Melissa Carder
Pleasanton- Alaina Vest
Ravenna- Amanda Luth, Deborah Panowicz
Riverton- Jessica Ziegler
Ruskin- Stacy Simonsen
St. Edward- Travis Carlson, Tiffany Sherwood, Kyle Stuhlmiller
St. Libory- Nicole Grafton
Scottsbluff- Martin Demoret
Seward- Alyssa Tucker
Shelton- David Hellman
Stockville- Nicole Houser
Stratton- Tara Sydow
Stuart- Ann Schaaf
Sutherland- Joshua Dethlefsen, Josie McCune
Syracuse– Rachel Sitzman
Tekamah- Amy Hansen
Verdon- Dearra Johnson
Wakefield- Toan Nguyen
Wallace- Trisha Dunn, Celeste Lempke
Wayne- Tyler Anderson, John Jensen
Weeping Water- Zachary Hartman, Melanie Spilinek
Western- Chance Klasek
Wood River- Kristy Rickert
York- Lindsay Hinz, Scott Vincent, Jennifer Wilton

COLORADO
Holyoke-     Dustin Boyd

IOWA
LeMars-     Bradley Miller
Spencer-     Brindi Utemard
Winterset-     James Watson

KANSAS
Atwood-     Carrie Spresser
Norton-     Amber Norman

MINNEASOTA
Fergus Falls- Jennifer Morlock

SOUTH DAKOTA
Canton     Jacquelyn Schneller
Fairfax     Cody Haiar

WYOMING
Pine Bluffs      Grant Sorensen