One hundred and thirty-one Downers Grove South students have been designated Illinois State Scholars for 2011. The prestigious award is given annually by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) which is recognizing 19,345 high school students from across the state as this year's State Scholars.

Illinois State Scholar winners rank in the top ten percent of the state's high school seniors from 752 high schools in all 102 counties. Selection is based on SAT, ACT and/or Prairie Sate Achievement Exam scores, and/or class rank at the end of the junior year.

Congratulations to current seniors: Ashley Akkal, Michael Arway, Bincy Augustine, Bobby Baer, Stratis Bahaveolos, Matthew Balsamo, Joseph Bayer, Lauren Bernaky, Alyssa Bovard, Christopher Bui, Michael Castillo, Emily Cheng, Daniel Cicirello, Margaret Cipriano, Kasey Colombani, Courtney Conrad, Kendall Coupland, Abigail Davis, Lauren Denby, Migle Drasutaviciute, Claire Drews, Kyle Engel, Heather Erhart, Vincent Errichiello, Julianna Estall, Michael Ficaro, Joshua Forst, Alyssa Frewen, Nithin Gade, Annah Garrett, Eva Gjorgieva, Matthew Greg, Kimberly Grimmer, Sarah Gross, Samuel Hadley, Nicole Hart, Rebecca Hedborn, Kyle Holubetz, Michael Holz, Matthew Hroma, Laurel Jakubowski, Dariusz Jedralski, Emily Johnson, Clayton Johnson, Nathan Jozef, John Junk, Christopher Kargl, Jakub Kaszyk, John Kaufman, Conor Kelch, Rachel Kelly, Bret Kersting, Grace Kikkebusch, Joy Kim, Sara Koniecko, Adam Kotel, Andrew Krecek, Margaree Lachowiez, Stephanie Landrosh, Michael Leahy, Lawrence LeBlanc, John Lithio, Carly Malave, Mariel Marquez, Christopher Martin, David Masolak, Ronald May, Candace McCutcheon, Joseph McLean, Mary McNellis, Milap Mehta, Nicole Mihelich, Alexander Misakian, Kaylee Moeslein, Emily Mohr, Emily C. Moore, Kaitlin Moosmann, Lauren Morrissey, Michael Mouser, Bryan Mulcrone, Sherilyn Munoz, Taylor Murphy, Amy Nagle, Kelly Nelson, Timothy Neumann, Jennifer Nichols, Kevin O'Halloran, Alexandria Osborn, Priya Patel, Shannon Patula, Patrick Pendergast, Carolyn Peters, Kedar Puvar, Melissa Radek, Meredith Richard, Edward Roberge, Michael Rovella, Bryan Ruggiero, Nelson Sanchez, Jordan Sarti, Brooke Schlictman, Sean Seelander, Michael Serlin, Christopher Shamet, Eva Shinikova, Egle Sirvinskaite, Bridget Springmire, Kaitlyn Stanger, Nikolajs Stiebris, Zachary R. Taylor, Keith E. Taylor Jr., Nicholas Tenerelli, Erik Thate, Nicole Truesdale, Allison Tusek, Amanda Vivo, Jacob Vizek, Ryan Vizek, Tyler Vizek, Melissa Voss, Daniel Vurpillat, Elise Wendt, Antoinette White, Kyle Wolf, Michael Worek, Samantha Worlton, Tiffany Wu, Lei Zhou, Michael Zinnecker and Alexa Zurbano.

"Excellent high school grades are tremendously important for laying the groundwork for future
college success," said ISAC Executive Director Andrew Davis, whose agency has overseen the
Illinois State Scholar program since 1958. "Illinois State Scholars are the best and the brightest in
our state's high schools, and we salute them, their families, and the teachers and staff at South High
School on this achievement."

Originally formed as the Illinois State Scholarship Commission in 1957, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission provides students of all ages and backgrounds with the resources and support to obtain financial aid for higher education. A state agency, ISAC has paved the path to post-secondary education with innovative programs for over 50 years. More than a half million Illinois State Scholars have been recognized by ISAC since the program's inception.