Schools

Six Free State seniors National Merit finalists

Six seniors at Free State High School are finalists for a prestigious National Merit Scholarship.

The finalists are Timothy Belcher, Adam Bittlingmayer, Glen Friedman, Annie McEnroe, Lucas Thompson and Nathaniel Twarog.

One student at Lawrence High School and one at Bishop Seabury Academy also are among 15,000 finalists in the United States.

Announcement of the 8,000 National Merit winners will trickle out in April, May and July.

National Merit finalists were chosen based upon academic achievement as demonstrated by scores on the SAT, grade-point average in a rigorous curriculum and recommendations by school officials.

Twarog and Lia DeRoin, the LHS finalist for the National Merit award, are candidates for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program.

Crime

West student suspended for drink, food tampering

A student at West Junior High School, 2700 Harvard Road, has been suspended for adding a cleaning substance to a staff member’s food and drink, district officials said Thursday.

Julie Boyle, the Lawrence school district’s communications director, said the eighth-grade boy was suspended for five days on Wednesday.

He was punished for putting spray cleaner in a drink and on an apple of a staff member who was supervising his in-school suspension for a separate incident.

A report to the Lawrence Police Department was made by the school’s resource officer, Boyle said.

An eighth-grade girl at West was suspended for two days after punching another student on the walk home from school. A police report also was filed.

Gardner

Troops called to duty

Two Kansas units of Army reserve soldiers were called for active duty Thursday to support Operation Enduring Freedom.

Soldiers from Company F, 5th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, 244th Aviation Brigade in Gardner and the 346th Military Police Company in Hutchinson will support the war on terrorism. The Army did not say when either company would leave.