The end of the school year must be getting close, because the awards are starting to pour in. The latest honors come from the Champaign-Urbana Noon Kiwanis Club, which will recognize outstanding seniors from local high schools — including four from Uni — at a luncheon later this month.

Usually only two students represent each area high school in WCIA's annual "Best of Class" series of one-minute TV spots. But for the second year, the station has invited schools to submit the names of all students who have the highest GPA in their class. In Uni's case, that means 18 seniors will be appearing on WCIA during the upcoming graduation season.

Senior Aliisa Rantanen and junior Lor Sligar have won first and second prize, respectively, in the annual art contest sponsored by the Central Illinois Chapter of the National Society of Arts and Letters. Check inside to see their winning entries.

[AUDIO included] The talented Alex Zhai adds the title of U.S. Physics Team member to his already long list of impressive academic accomplishments. Zhai will attend a training camp at the University of Maryland this May with the other 23 members of the team in hopes of becoming one of the five members of the U.S. Traveling Team, which will compete this July in the 39th International Physics Olympiad, to be held in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency has named juniors Rob Diehl and Brian Wang two of the 14 State Historians of the Year for their published work in Illinois History: A Magazine for Young People. The student historians will be honored at the All Illinois History Exposition, to be held May 8 at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield.

Sophomore Chris Yoder won first place in sports writing as Uni High earned the state runner-up trophy at the IHSA journalism finals held Saturday at Eastern illinois University. Palatine Fremd won the title with 28 points, followed by Uni with 23. No other school reached 20 points in the 15-event contest. Sixty-seven schools advanced to the finals from the April 19 sectional round.

Competing in a division intended for schools up to eight times its size, Uni High placed second in Division 3AA at the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics state contest held Saturday at the University of Illinois. Vernon Hills won the title with 779 points, followed by Uni with 709. The contest consisted of 14 events in such areas as algebra 1, algebra 2, geometry, precalculus, and calculus. Fifty-two schools competed, having advanced from the March 1 regional round held at 19 locations around the state.

All Uni students are invited to enter the third annual Iris Chang and Peter Kolodziej Writing Awards competition. The contest will honor both fiction and nonfiction writing. A $100 check, a book prize, and a plaque will be awarded to the winner in each category. The contest is open to all Uni students, subfreshman through senior. Entry forms and information sheets are now available in the main office. The deadline is 4 p.m. Thursday, May 1.

Eight Uni students drawn equally from the Gargoyle and yearbook staffs qualified for the IHSA state journalism tournament thanks to their performances today at sectionals. Uni won the team championship, finishing with the highest score (72) in the state and the largest margin of victory (13). Senior Michelle Gao became the first Uni student to win two first-place sectional awards in the three years the journalism competition has existed.

[AUDIO included] For the 10th time in 11 years, Uni High is the state champion among small schools in the Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering (WYSE) Academic Challenge. A team of 14 seniors coached by physics teacher Jim Carrubba won the Division 300 title this afternoon at the Illini Union. Three Uni students won first place in their individual categories: Ethan Berl (computer science), Joe Leigh (math), and Jennifer Roloff (physics).

Senior Alex Zhai scored 14 out of a possible 15 on the American Invitational Mathematics Examination II earlier this month, giving him a near-perfect selection index of 290 for the U.S.A. Math Olympiad. Zhai will take the USAMO exam on April 29 and 30. The USAMO is the next-to-last step in the process that determines who will be on the six-member U.S. team in the International Math Olympiad. Zhai has represented the U.S. for the past two years, winning a gold medal last summer in Hanoi, Vietnam, and finishing seventh individually in the world.

If senior Frankie McFarland attends the University of Illinois next year, he won't have to worry about a major part of his expenses. That's because the U of I has offered him a Provost Scholarship, which covers full tuition and is renewable for up to four years.

Senior Alex Zhai is used to being one of the top math students in the country, having represented the United States twice in the International Mathematical Olympiad. Now, he's taken his place among the nation's top physics students as well, according to results announced by the American Association of Physics Teachers. He is one of just 158 students nationwide who still have a chance to represent the U.S. at the International Physics Olympiad this summer.

Senior Jennifer Roloff won her second major music contest in less than two months, earning first prize in the Young Baroque Artists Competition held Saturday at Smith Memorial Hall on the University of Illinois campus. Subfreshman Kathy Qiu won third place. They were among eight Uni students who competed.

[UPDATED, audio included] Junior Kareem Sayegh chose an eclectic trio of poems to memorize and recite for the Poetry Out Loud state finals last week: a muscular tribute to a city on the rise, a flirtatious meditation on the cruelty of love, an unflinching look at the reality of war. The result? A top-five finish for Sayegh in Uni's first year of participating in Poetry Out Loud.