Spencer M. Holmes, 2008 Clayton High School Valedictorian, has a long list of honors and achievements. They include:

• All-star varsity basketball star.
• Oklahoma State Champion in speech, debate and drama.
  
• Number one in his class with a consistent 4.00 Grade Point
  xxxAverage throughout his high school career.
• Superintendent's Honor Roll all four years of high school.

But Spencer’s real passion is acting, drama and the performing arts.

Spencer Holmes has been accepted into the prestigious Drama Program at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and concurrently at The Lee Strasberg Theater Institute in New York City. Spencer is in good company.

Tisch alumni include Oliver Stone, Alec Baldwin, Spike Lee and Amy Heckerling. Lee Strasberg Theater Institute graduates include three generations of American actors from Marilyn Monroe and James Dean to Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro and Angelina Jolie.

Spencer plans to pursue a career in the Performing Arts. He will not only study the creative side of story-telling through drama and acting, but also learn the business aspects of the industry as well. He plans to obtain his Bachelor degree, then his Masters in Fine Arts, with an emphasis on Dramatic Acting and the Performing Arts.

Trent Tolbert is a 19 year-old member of the Choctaw Nation from Tulsa, Oklahoma and is a sophomore at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. In high school Trent was an Oklahoma state champion tennis player and a five time National Indian Tennis Champion. He has donated many of his National Indian Tennis titles to the Choctaw Nation.
Growing up, Trent’s family focused early on the college application and enrollment process. “I remember taking the ACT the first year I was able (7th grade), and continuing to take it every year till I graduated,” says Trent. “In fact, most of my high school career was geared towards the college process.” Every summer during high school Trent would attend at least one college program or work shop and would usually visit about two to three colleges.

By the start of his senior year in high school Trent:

• Already knew where he was going to apply.
  
• Had his resume ready and common application essays written.
  
• Was braced – along with his family – for the application process.
  

Trent Tolbert won a scholarship at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. “My experience at Dartmouth has been incredible,” he says. “ I have been exposed to things that I would have never seen had I stayed in state. While I love my home with my family and friends in Oklahoma, I can’t wait till school starts up again.”

Lauren Palmer is the SAP Program’s Peer Advisor at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. She is twenty-two years old, married, and a proud Choctaw tribal member. Lauren grew up in Durant, Oklahoma where she was very involved in her high school, church, and community. She has lived in Norman, Oklahoma for the past four years while working on her Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics Education at the University of Oklahoma where she holds a senior status.

Palmer offers three points of advice to all students:

• Go to class and make the grades you are capable of making.
  
• Take advantage of free on-campus tutoring opportunities and writing centers to proof read papers.
  
• Consistently apply for scholarships. Seek out scholarships within your university and outside your university as well. Search for scholarships geared towards Native Americans and others within your department or field of study.
  

The SAP Peer Advisement Program helps Choctaw Students during their college years. Its main goal is retention – keeping students in school – so that each and every Choctaw student completes a degree plan, regardless of any obstacles or struggles they may encounter while attending a college or university.

Alysia Brooks will be a senior at Durant High School in Durant, Oklahoma. In the sixth grade, she moved with her family to Durant from southern Orange County, California where she was in a Gifted and Talented Education accelerated program. She has attended Durant Public Schools from seventh grade through twelfth grade. Alysia lives at home with her parents, Alan and Leah Anne Brooks and her younger brother, Alex and their two dogs and two kittens. For fun she plays in the Pride of Durant marching band and on the Durant High School tennis team. Alysia’s favorite things to do are go to the movies, go shopping and hang around the pool with her friends.

Alysia’s future plans include going away to college to obtain an undergraduate degree in Chemistry with a minor in Psychology. Following her undergraduate program, she intends to enter medical school to become a pediatrician. She aspires to work as both a practicing pediatrician and a medical researcher in the field of autism.

Blake Redwine is currently a first year law student at Southern Methodist University (Dallas, TX) Dedman School of Law. Blake chose law school because the broad array of legal specialties intriqued him. He was a Finance and Accounting undergraduate major at the University of Texas because he was interested in the financial system and its effects on the economy as a whole. Although, still a first year law student, Redwine says he is interested in pursing a creer in a legal specailty related to finance.

Blake’s father, an attorney in Tulsa, OK, influenced his decision to pursue the law. “From him I learned the benefits ofa graduate degree and how satisfying a law career can be despite the hard work and long hours.”

Blake attended Jenks High School (Tulsa, OK) where, in his junior year, he played football on the state championship team. In college he was activiely involved in his fraternity and served as its Vice President his senior year. Blake graduated with honors from the University of Texas in 2008. At the University of Texas Redwine earned the O.V. Bennett Jr. Endowed Presidential Scholarship, the McCombs School of Business Out of state tuition Waiver and the Choctaw Higher Education Scholarship. At SMU Redwine has won the Dans Scholarship.

At SMU he is a member of the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers, the Corporate Law Association and the Student Bar Association. For fun, Blake enjoys playing golf, running and outdoor activities.

Chelsea Wells of Hugo, OK is a freshman at Yale University in New Haven, CT with an undeclared major. “I applied to Yale because the application fee was waived since I was a Questbridge Scholar (a non-profit program that links bright, motivated low-income students with educational and scholarship opportunities at some of the nation's best colleges). I was encouraged to apply by the Choctaw Scholarship Advisement Program, my family and a family friend with a student at Harvard.

Chelsea is passionate about helping others who live in low socioeconimic areas. “I especially enjoy working with children,” she says. “I hope my future occupation has something to do with these passions.” At Yale Chelsea is now active in Community Health Educators, PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support) and the Boys and Girls Club of New Haven.

“Although I do not know what I will major in yet, I believe that God has a plan for my life and for others as well that will exceed our expectations and fill us with an inner peace.  I believe that this is the reason I am at Yale.  I did not pick Yale by myself. God was my pilot that steered me to this point in my life.  He controls what I will do in the future.”  

Chelse has lived in Hugo, OK her entire life. “While this rural area of the world is not flawless, it is my home and a part of my identity. I will remain a southern girl who loves homemade buttermilk biscuits and gravy, deer jerky, and the vast Oklahoma sky. ‘Y’all’ will remain a part of my vocabulary,” says Chelsea.

“I am a proud member of the Choctaw Nation and am extremely blessed to be a part of this great group of people. In life, it is important to find your supporters. Thankfully, I have a huge support team, which includes my family, friends, past teachers, and the Choctaw Nation. They are continuously inspiring me to reach my full academic potential and make a difference in the world. “

Destiny Sullens grew up in Idabel, OK and is currently a junior at Columbia University in New York, NY. She double majors in Anthropology and Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures. She became interested in the Middle East while auditing a class on Arab civilizations while a student at the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics. She says her studies in Anthropology allow her to learn more about the histories of Native Americans and other indigenous peoples. Destiny is a recipeint of Columbia’s Astor Presidential Scholarship Fund.

At Columbia since 2008 Destiny has served as Vice Chair of the Native American Council. She has planned and budgeted events for Native American Heritage Month and has been Student Representative to Columbia’s Native American Studies committee. She has recruited new members to better serve all indigenous peoples.

Destiny is a member of Youth Leadership Oklahoma, Class VI and a 2004 delegate of Camp Anytown Oklahoma. She later volunteered for the Oklahoma Conference for Community and Justice as a counselor at Camp Anytown Oklahoma in 2007 and in 2009. She is a recipient of the 2007 Ruth Ray Hunt Legacy of Learning Scholarship. She is currently serving as Chair of Columbia’s Native American Council and works closely with other cultural groups on campus to increase awareness and visibility of minority groups.

Destiny enjoys traveling and finds it to be complimentary to her education. Thanks to generous support of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and Columbia University and its affiliates, she has been able to visit various places in the Middle East and Latin America.

Keaton Watts is a freshman at The University of Tulsa majoring in Marketing. He is from Oklahoma City and graduated from Mustang High School in Mustang, Oklahoma where he was a member of National Honor Society and the Ecology Club.

“The University of Tulsa gave me an amazing academic scholarship. However, I wouldn't have been able to attend if it wasn't for the scholarship I've received from the Scholarship Advisement Program through the Choctaw Nation. Currently I am in the Freshman Leadership Institute at my school.” Besides attending college Keaton keeps busy at photography, something that has interested Keaton and he is very passionate about it.

In Tulsa Keaton has been working for CRKWD, a digital marketing & design agency where he has created identity pieces and print collateral for various Oklahoma and national businesses, non-profits, and campaigns. He has photographed mixed businesses, restaurants, clothing lines and other assignments for use in websites and/or social media campaigns and. He also provided photography for a political campaign in Tulsa.

Keaton is a member of theChoctaw Nationof Oklahoma and has won first place in the Native American Multicultural Month Poster Design at the University of Tulsa. Keaton has tutored Native American students on High School Preparation, coursework as well as college preparation. In high school he was a member of National Honor Society and the Ecology Club. He is a Choctraw Honor Scholar and graduated with a Certificate of Distinction, Oklahoma Academic Scholar, & Academic Achievement Award.