This year’s Illinois State Scholars are, from left to right, Cody Stewart – son of Stacy and Traci Stewart; Adrienne Logsdon – daughter of Josh and Michell Nicolaides; Sophia Eckhardt – daughter of Tony and Johanna Eckhardt; Bailey Stewart – daughter of Jerry and Rachael Stewart; and Jarek Wehrle – son of James and Dacia Wehrle. Missing from the photo, but also an Illinois State Scholar is Hayley Wodtka – daughter of Adam and Michelle Wodtka. To be considered for State Scholar eligibility, a student must be a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen or meet the “undocumented student” criteria of the RISE Act; be a resident of Illinois; attend an approved high school; take the ACT or SAT between August 1 and June 30 (by the end of the third semester before high school graduation; be in the top one-half of your high school class at the end of the third semester prior to graduation*, and/or score at or above the 95th percentile on the ACT or SAT, and graduate from high school during the academic year in which you were selected as a State Scholar.
