The Thomas County School System recently announced that three of its middle school students were recognized as a part of the 2016 Duke University Talent Identification (TIP) Program.

Sarah Carnes, Anna James and Danielle Sauls, seventh graders at Thomas County Middle School, were among a select group of students statewide to meet the criteria to be Duke TIP students.

In December 2014 and January and February of this year, the three took the ACT through TIP. They sat for the exams in Thomasville alongside the usual group of college-bound 11th and 12th graders, and many earned scores that rivaled or surpassed those earned by the older students in the next seats.

Thomas County Middle School’s TIP Club Advisor Retha Lee saID, “We are proud of these seventh-grade students for taking on the challenge of exams such as the PSAT, SAT and ACT. The high scores our students received are indicative of the academic rigor of their MERIT courses here at Thomas County Middle School, as well as the students’ intelligence and motivation. We hope the work they’ve done in our Duke TIP Club will continue to serve them well in their academic careers.”

The Duke TIP Club advisors, Lee and Tonya Frare, help students prepare for national tests such as the PSAT, SAT, and ACT by guiding them through sample test questions and showing them online resources for further practice

All three students scored high enough to be eligible for participation in Duke’s Summer Studies programs.

Director of Honors, Gifted, & Accelerated Instruction for Thomas County Schools Dr. Jim Rehberg said, “I'm really pleased to see our students do so well and receive recognition for their hard work and talents on a state level. Our teachers work very hard to prepare all of our students to perform at an advanced level, and it's always encouraging when others outside of our system acknowledge our students' accomplishments. I'm really happy to see these students aspiring to greater goals and pushing themselves to a high level of achievement.”

Carnes, James and Sauls have all been invited to attend a state recognition ceremony in May.

TIP identifies 7th graders in sixteen states in the Southeast, Midwest and Southwest who have scored at the 95th percentile or above on a national grade-level achievement test, but several students from TCMS scored higher than the 90th percentile nationally on this assessment. TIP provides participants with suggestions for using their ability more effectively, and a variety of educational materials and publications.