Contact: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Thursday, May 7, 2009

Valerie Sarge of Winburn Middle School is among the 21 Bevan Scholars to emerge from Duke University’s Talent Identification Program.

The Bevan Scholars have distinguished themselves from nearly 74,000 gifted students who participated in Duke TIP's 2009 seventh-grade talent search. This award goes to the students who earn the highest scores on the SAT or ACT, placing them in the 99.98 percentile of TIP participants.

On the ACT, Valerie had a 34 in science, 34 in math, 35 in English and a 34 composite score. A perfect score is 36.

She will receive a full scholarship to the Duke TIP’s Center for Summer Studies. During the three-week residential session, she can take one course of her choice – usually covering the equivalent of a full year of high school material.