Scouting - Jason and Jonathan Hopkins of the Eighteenth North Ward, Salt Lake Eagle Gate Stake, won several awards in the Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree Arts and Science Expo. There were nearly 1,000 entries in the expo at Fort A.P. Hill, Va. Jason, 16, won 15 ribbons, including one for the grand prize for best essay for his paper: "Shylock: A Victim of Anti-Semitism and a Tragic Character." Jonathan, 12, won 10 awards, including a blue ribbon or honor award for his paper: "Problems I Would Face If I Had to Live in India."
Jason and Jonathan, both Eagle Scouts, are high honor students at the Waterford School in Sandy, Utah.
Military
Kim L. Taylor-Fields was named the 1992 Level II Navy Drug and Alcohol Counselor of the Year while stationed at the U.S. Naval Air Station in Keflavik, Iceland. The aviation maintenance administrator of 18 years was selected from candidates Navy-wide. While living in Iceland, she was a member of the Keflavik Iceland Servicemen Branch, Iceland District, and served as Relief Society president, chorister and Primary worker. She recently moved with her husband, George, and son, Matthew, to the CAAC facility at Naval Base, Bremerton, Wash.
Business
Burl E. Jarvis was recently elected president of the Professional Independent Insurance Agents of Missouri, a group representing more than 800 agencies and approximately 10,000 people in the insurance business. He is a member of several area charitable and service organizations. Brother Jarvis is a former bishop of the Willard Ward, Springfield Missouri Stake.
Truman Leishman has received Ford Motor Company's highest award given to salesmen, the Grand Masters Award. He is the top salesman in the Denver Region and has received two Distinguished Customer Service Awards. He is a member of the Morningside 1st Ward and a stake missionary in the Bloomington Hills Utah Stake.
Church service
Ethel Jacobs, called to serve in the name extraction program in 1981, recently extracted her 30,000th name. Sister Jacobs, now 89, was called with her husband, Lyman, when the Raymond Alberta Stake first established its French-name extraction program. She has worked continuously in the program since then, extracting information from microfilms of old French records.
Athletics
Brianna Cardenas, 12, of the Tulsa 1st Ward, Tulsa Oklahoma Stake, earned a gold medal in the high jump at this summer's USA Track and Field Region IX championships. She also won a bronze medal in the pentathlon at the meet, which included athletes from Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri and part of Illinois. In the state championships, Brianna, competing in the division for 11-12 year olds, won a gold medal in the pentathlon and silver medal in the high jump. She went on to finish in the top 20 in the events at the Junior Olympic National Championship at Baton Rouge, La., and was eighth in the high jump at the National USA Track and Field Championship in Houston.
Craig Middledorf, a priest in the Olney Ward, Seneca Maryland Stake, has been named to the 1993 Amateur Wrestling News All America Team after finishing 6th at 130 pounds at the national championships in Pittsburgh, Pa. In his senior season at Paint Branch High School, he went 40-0 with 29 falls. He had 100 percent attendance at early-morning seminary for four years and will attend BYU beginning this fall on a wrestling scholarship.
David Duncan, 18, was selected to the Georgia State Soccer All-Star Team by the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association. He is a priest in the Dublin Ward, Macon Georgia Stake. David earned a spot on the state team by leading Dublin High School team to an undefeated season as its leading scorer. He also wrestled, and played the tuba in the high school symphonic band. Senior president and valedictorian of his class, he was named Youth of the Year by the Dublin Exchange Club. David has already enrolled in the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, majoring in chemical engineering.
Meagan Gable, 15, recently won a state championship in track and field as a freshman at Buckeye Union (Ariz.) High School. She won the championship in the triple jump with a distance of 34 feet, 6 inches. She was then invited to compete against champions from all high school divisions throughout Arizona and took second in the triple jump with a 34-81/2 mark. She finished second in the state in her division in the 100 and 200-meter dashes. Meagan is a member of the Buckeye 2nd Ward, Buckeye Arizona Stake.
Academics
Cheryl Black, a recent graduate of LDS Business College, won first place in word processing in the Phi Beta Lambda national awards program. Phi Beta Lambda is a professional association for students pursuing business careers. The award was part of a comprehensive competitive events program sponsored annually by Future Business Leaders of America - Phi Beta Lambda, Inc. Sister Black of the Riverside 5th Ward, Murray Utah North Stake, was honored for her award at the PBL National Leadership Conference at Washington, D.C., in July. She is currently employed as a legal secretary.
Media
Leah Arter, 14, a student in the Gifted Program at Cheney (Wash.) Junior High School, has won an award in the 1993 Scott Newman Public Service Announcement Project. Her storyboard in the Teens Against Substance Abuse campaign was winner for the Northwest Region. She was awarded a $1,000 check to help finance the production of her public service announcement. Station KXLY-TV in Spokane, Wash., has agreed to help produce and distribute the announcement. Leah is a member of the Cheney Ward, Spokane Washington West Stake.
Writing
David Bly of the Taber 3rd Ward, Taber Alberta Stake, has won the 1993 Alberta Writing for Youth Competition with his novel: "The McIntyre Liar." The award includes a cash prize from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, a publishing contract with Tree Frog Press of Edmonton, and a 12-month option agreement for motion picture and television rights from ITV. The novel will be released in November. Brother Bly is a senior editor with the Calgary (Alberta) Herald. His photos, illustrating the Message of Inspiration, appear frequently in the Church News.
Government
Richard Strong recently returned from Germany where he was one of only two legislative staff members chosen from the United States to serve as part of a 13-member legislator/staff exchange with federal, local and especially state governments in Germany. He is director of Utah's Legislative Research and Legal Office. Brother Strong of the Oak Hills Ward, Bountiful Utah Central Stake, was also recently elected by his peers as one of 16 staff members out of more than 25,000 in the United States to serve on the Executive Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Foreign Exchange
Sarah Backus, a Laurel in the Puyallup 2nd Ward, Puyallup Washington Stake, was selected to represent Washington in Japan this summer. During July, she worked for the University of Washington while the Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, delegation visited. The Washington Cultural Exchange in Seattle sponsored her 10-day visit to Japan. Sarah began to develop a strong interest in the Japanese people when her brother Samuel served in the Japan Fukuoka Mission and has studied the Japanese language. She will be a senior at Puyallup High School.
Education
Gib Andruski has earned an award for innovative math and science teaching from the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists, Geophysicists of Alberta. Brother Andruski, principal of Elnora School, is a member of the Three Hills Branch, Red Deer Alberta Stake. The award includes a $500 cash donation to the Elnora School and a plaque. He has instituted a program in his school where children's building sets are used to teach complex lessons about technology. The sets include motors, gears, pulleys and elastic bands. Brother Andruski is developing a teacher's guide to help other schools use the program.
