Sommer and Cameron Taylor, Olathe, announce the birth of their son, Elijah Taylor, on Sept. 27, 2011, in Overland Park.

His maternal grandparents are Gary and Lynn Heiserman, Lawrence; his paternal grandparents are Becky Taylor, and Kent and Cheryl Taylor, all of Lawrence.

His great-grandparents are Bill and Betty Bunce, Dale and Charlotte Heiserman, Art and Dianne Lingle, Sandy Lingle, Fern Nettleton, and Bob and Romaine Taylor, all of Lawrence.

Free State High School and Cordley School claimed second place team trophies in K-12 and K-5, while Southwest Middle School garnered the third place trophy in K-8, at the Christ the King Chess Tournament on Oct. 1 in Topeka.

Medal winners were, in K-12: Kelsey Jian, Sunflower, fifth; Aaron Simon, FSHS, sixth; Sam Beaulieu, FSHS, ninth; Siyin Li, FSHS, 12th; and Joseph Miller, FSHS, 13th.

In K-8: Thomas Kensinger, Lawrence Virtual School, fourth; Jeffrey Wilson, Southwest, fifth; and John Ely, Southwest, eighth.

In K-5: Shrivatsa Malladi, Langston Hughes, second; Sebi Brown, Cordley, fourth; and Andrew Wettengel, Cordley, seventh.

In K-3: Jocelyn Wilson, Sunflower, sixth; and Anna Jian, Sunflower, 11th.

Haley Fischer, Lawrence, was named to the spring 2011 president’s list at Columbus College of Art and Design, by earning a grade-point average of 3.4 or higher.

Missouri State University, Springfield, announces area students awarded scholarships for the 2011-12 academic year, named to its spring 2011 dean’s list, and awarded degrees during spring commencement ceremonies on May 13.

Shelby McGhee, of Basehor, and Emily Gomez, Hawley Montgomery, Kaya Riemann and Zachary Chumbley, all of Eudora, were awarded scholarships.

Chelsea Dirks-Ham, Lawrence, and Michelle Sommer, Tecumseh, were named to the dean’s list by earning a grade-point average of at least a 3.5.

Ashley Mayer, Lawrence, was awarded a bachelor’s degree in mass media, cum laude, by earning a grade-point average between 3.5 and 3.74.

Kelli and Randall Hedges, Auckland, New Zealand, announce the birth of their son, Dylan James Hedges, on Sept. 26, 2011, at North Shore Hospital, Auckland.

Dylan has a sister, Brea, 3; and a brother, Joshua, 2.

His maternal grandparents are Don and Shari Raybern, Lawrence; and his paternal grandparents are Kay and Allen Benjamin, Tauranga, New Zealand, and the late Bryan Hedges.

The Lawrence Accredited Music Teachers Association presented two recitals Oct. 9 at First Presbyterian Church, 2415 Clinton Pkwy.

Students who performed at 2 p.m. represented the studios of Lisa Bender, Elaine de San Miguel, Jean Drumm, Scott McBride, Carole Ross and Jung Spooner. They were Skylar Steichen, Alicia Spooner, Raeleigh Heck, Alexander Carrillo, Rita Joseph, Wil Johnson, Katie Price, Delaney Dethloff, Ulises Magana, Ava Cormaney, Savannah Price, Alita Joseph and Mason Kelso.

Students who performed at 3 p.m. represented the studios of Carol Cook, Evelyn Falen and Julie Holmberg. They were Felix Guo, Nathan Ma, Bill Qian, Nina Katz, Emily Guo, Maggie Li, Dingding Ye, Jessica Chen, Jeffrey Chen, Mikhenna Brown, Amanda Coatney, Parkin Srisutiva, Mikhaila Brown, Isabelle Schmidtberger, Sydney Combs and Yihan Li.

Katy and Daniel Vannicola, Topeka, announce the birth of their daughter, Reba Nadine Vannicola, on Sept. 29, 2011, at Stormont-Vail Hospital in Topeka.

Her maternal grandparents are Bobby and Karen Martin, Meriden; and her paternal grandparents are Phillip and Gayle Vannicola, Lecompton.

Her great-grandparents are Don and Bernice Grimmett, Meriden, Judy Wulfkuhle, Berryton, and Mary Vannicola, Lawrence.

Approximately 640 undergraduate degree candidates were honored during commencement ceremonies May 14 at Emporia State University.

Earning bachelor degrees: Shannon Brock (business administration) and Brianna Bullock (elementary education), Basehor; Marsha Kienzle (business administration) and Lisa Pettibon (interdiscplinary studies degree), Bonner Springs; Daniel Quillin (athletic training) and Emily Hedge (elementary education), De Soto; Brenda Bird (integrated studies), Eudora; Robert Wallace (sociology), Kathleen Finnegan (English), Olson Kilmer (finance), Joshua Lorenzo (management), Jacqueline Brazil (recreation), Katie McClain (secondary education-social science), Andres Gutierrez (accounting), Brenda Ojeleye (business administration), Brittany Olker (business administration), Craig Barnes (health promotion), Adam Younger (computer information systems), and Adeshola Fatuyi (psychology), Lawrence; Krista Harries (accounting), Oskaloosa; Cody Dunyon (fine arts), Valerie Barkley, (elementary education), Amanda Spooner (elementary education), Kaci Watts (management), Amber Anderson (nursing), and Brandi Wade (sociology), Ottawa; David Ross (earth science), Perry; Theresa Davila (elementary education) and Matthew Vossler (music), Tonganoxie; Kala O’Neil (business administration) and Stephen Shirk (music), Wellsville; Justin Dunnaway (secondary education-English) Grantville; Kimberly Sixkiller (integrated studies degree), Berryton; Whitney Czajkowski (elementary education), Meriden; Christopher Harris (business administration), Overbrook; and Joseph Evans (computer information systems), Tecumseh.

Bishop Seabury Academy will host the first of two Seahawk Days on Oct. 28. Children will have an opportunity to tour the school with a student guide, take part in classes and all the activities, meet the teachers, eat lunch, and learn what it means to be a Seabury Seahawk. To schedule a visit, call Jacquie Krueger at 832-1717 ext. 121 or jacquiekrueger@seaburyacademy.org.

Garden City Community College announces Lawrence students named to its spring 2011 honor rolls. Rosaleen Amante was named to the dean’s list by earning a grade-point average between 3.2 to 3.9; and Bryan Witham was named to the honorable mention list by earning a grade-point average between 3.0 and 3.1.

The Garden City Community College rodeo team competed at the Pratt Community College Intercollegiate Rodeo Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, after delivering promising results at Colby Community College in the season opener.

In the Colby rodeo, the GCCC women’s team put up 260 team points to finish second behind Western Oklahoma State College, Altus, Okla., which tallied 350 points. The eight women riders for GCCC include Shelby Leonhard, Oskaloosa, barrel racing, goat tying and breakaway roping.

The Kansas University Department of Political Science honored its top students at its annual recognition ceremony April 29. The department also presented cash awards and scholarships.

Thirty-three students were inducted into the Gamma chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, a national political science honor society.

Lawrence Pi Sigma Alpha inductees: William Bettes, Michael Fonkert, Mason Heilman, Terilyn Huntington and Yingnan Zhou.

Scholarship recipients: William Bettes, Whitney Court, Laura Dean, Matthew Miles and Lidiya Zubytska, Lawrence; and Jacob Longaker, De Soto.