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"Jacinda Pettit, Sequoyah Schools’ Junior." The United States Achievement Academy recently announced that Jacinda Pettit, a junior at Sequoyah Schools, has been named a United States National Award Winner in mathematics. The award is a prestigious honor very few high school students ever attain, with fewer than 10 percent of all American high school students ever receiving it. Pettit was nominated by the Sequoyah Schools’ math department and will appear in the United States Achievement Academy’s Official Yearbook, which is published nationally. “Recognizing and supporting our youth is more important than ever before in America’s history. Certainly, United States Achievement Academy winners should be congratulated and appreciated for their dedication to excellence and achievement,” said Dr. George Stevens, founder of the United States Achievement Academy. The Academy selects USAA winners upon the exclusive recommendation of teachers, coaches, counselors and sponsors and upon the Standards of Selection set forth by the Academy. The criteria for selection include a student’s academic performance, interest, aptitude, leadership qualities, responsibility, enthusiasm, motivation to learn and improve citizenship, attitude and cooperative spirit, dependability and recommendation. Pettit, of Marble City, is the daughter of Mary and Jack Pettit and Marie and Saturnino Ladrillero. She is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and has attended Sequoyah Schools for three years, where she is active in the National Honor Society and on the Principal’s Honor Roll. Sequoyah Schools, a boarding school for Native American students, originated in 1871 as an orphan asylum to care for children who were orphaned by the Civil War. Now known as Sequoyah Schools, it is named for Sequoyah, the scholar who developed the Cherokee syllabary. The school is regionally and state accredited for grades 7-12 and has become the school of choice for more than 400 Native American students every year. Sequoyah Schools is located five miles southwest of Tahlequah, Okla. For more information call (918) 453-5400 or visit the Sequoyah Schools’ web site at http://sequoyah.cherokee.org.

Related Cherokee Nation contact information:

Mike Miller, Cherokee Nation Director of Communications Phone: 918-456-0671 (ext.2210) Fax: 918-458-5580 E-mail: Communications@cherokee.org Larry Daugherty, Advertising Manager Cherokee Nation - Public Affairs Phone 918-456-0671 (Ex.2324) E-mail: ldaugherty@cherokee.org

Steven Swogger, Agriculture Liaison Natural Resources Department Phone: 918-456-0671 (ext.2546) FAX: 918-458-7673 E-mail: sswogger@cherokee.org Bradley D. Peak, Cherokee Nation Natural Resources Specialist Phone: 918-456-0671 (ex.2843) E-mail: bpeak@cherokee.org