OKC FRIDAY Vol. 56 No. 18 • One Section • 16 pages • September 23, 2022
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Casady boasts 12 Merit Semifinalists; the most in the school’s history potential for success in Casady School rigorous college studannounced that 12 ies.” students in the Class “These 12 seniors of 2023 have been show that reaping the selected as National benefits of success Merit Semifinalists by begins with hard work the National Merit and dedication to their Scholarship Program, education,” Head of the most ever in a sinSchool Nathan L. gle class for the Sheldon said. “Our school. Casady community is Those students are blessed to be able to celWilliam Bankhead, ebrate the accomplishConnor Evans, Peter BANKHEAD ments of so many of our FitzSimons, Jonathan students, and I am proud to recogHedrick, Michelle Huang, Julia nize and honor our National Merit Janknecht, Jenna Jiang, Alex Semifinalist nominees today.” Midyett, Stephen Shafer, Joshua The National Merit Scholarship Siatkowski, Olivia Wang, and Program began in 1955 as an acaGrayson Wileman. The National Merit Scholarship Program “honors demic competition for recognition individual students who show See CASADY, Page 5 exceptional academic ability and
Casady School’s 2022 National Merit Scholar Semifinalists, from left: Back row, Connor Evans, Peter FitzSimons, Joshua Siatkowski, Stephen Shafer; middle row: Michelle Huang, Julia Janknecht and Jonathan Hedrick; and front row, Julia Janknecht, Olivia Wang, Alex Midyett and Grayson Wileman. Not pictured: William Bankhead.
Nineteen more Fridayland students earn Semifinalist status By Rose Lane Editor Nineteen students from other Fridayland school have also been named National Merit Semifinalists.
The student and their high schools are: Academy of Classical Christian Studies — Katherine Cheng. Classen School of Advanced Studies— Danny
Three going into Hall of Honor The 36th annual induction ceremony of the Oklahoma Commerce & Industry Hall of Honor welcomes three new inductees at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 18 at the Oklahoma City Convention Center. The honorees are Mark Beffort, CEO of Newmark Robinson Park; Cathy Keating, former first lady of Oklahoma; and Barry Switzer, member of the College Football Hall of Fame and legendary coach of the Oklahoma Sooners and Dallas Cowboys. Oklahoma City University established the Oklahoma Commerce & Industry Hall of Honor to recognize business and community leaders who have made significant contributions to the growth and development of Oklahoma. The Hall of Honor is housed in the Meinders School of Business at OCU. Corporate tables and individual tickets are available at okcu.edu/hallofhonor. Hall of Honor inductees serve as role models for business students, providing them with inspiration and encouragement as they pursue their roles as the See HALL, Page 16
FRIDAY’s Dog
M. Ly and Sean X. Wu. Crossings Christian School — Lucas Lindsey, Copper Shapard and Reagan Tollefson. Heritage Hall —Braden A. Perkins.
Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School — John Dolan, Encho S. Genchev, Maureen E. Grimes, Henry Ison, Jacob M. Love, Noah D. Rice and Curt T. Schwager. Mount St. Mary — Daniel
P. Brown and Thomas Doan. Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics — Jackson P. Copeland and Anoushka Sasikumar. Putnam City North High School — Philip M. Tu.
Nichols Hills residents give city a By Eric Oesch Staff Writer A study commissioned by the Nichols Hills Sustainability Committee has determined residents are quite pleased with their police and fire departments but think K-12 education and the taste of the drinking water in their city need a little work. The City Council learned the results of the citywide survey, conducted by well-known research firm National Research Center (NRC) through its online community platform, Polco, during September’s meeting. Last April, all 1,830 Nichols Hills households received a postcard and letter inviting all to participate in the first ever poling of Nichols Hills residents to determine their thoughts and views about their city. The survey was conducted April 20 to June 8 and received a 37 percent response rate with 663 total answers that City Manager Shane Pate said is, “approximately double the national average.” Nichols Hills residents Nancy
Nichols Hills residents say they feel safe within their city limits.
Herzel and John Kennedy co-chair the Nichols Hills Sustainability Plan Subcommittee and head a 35-member group tasked with developing a new sustainability plan for the city. The mission of this process is to “preserve and enhance the resources, community and natural experiences of Nichols Hills for future generations in order to respect the vision of G.A. Nichols (developer of the state’s first planned
of the Week Boone Skittles Fudge is a Labradoodle who likes to go for car rides — especially to the car wash. His humans are Taylor, Colette, Jack, Ben and Will Fudge. Send Pet and Baby of the Week nominations with complete descriptions to rose@okcfriday.com. Submissions are used in the order they are received.
community and northwest Oklahoma City suburb). “The high response rate (to the citywide survey) did not surprise me at all,” said Mayor Steve Goetzinger. “That is a function of the strong relationship our citizens have with our city’s employees and public servants.” City Manager Shane Pate said the city funded the survey to the tune of $24,200. It was requested by the Sustainability Subcommittee “as a means to receive feedback from the citizens about how the city can best apply its resources going forward to fulfill the subcommittee’s state mission.” “The results of the survey will help guide the direction of our sustainability plan,” said Pate. “Some of the findings from the survey will be included in the plan as well.” The study found residents have a “strong sense of safety,” that “helps make Nichols Hills a livable community.” See NHILLS, Page 5
Forbes names BancFirst one of the best banks in the world In its World's Best Banks 2020 report, Forbes named BancFirst as one of the best banks in the world. Forbes partnered with market research company Statista to conduct a study of approximately 40,000 banking consumers in nearly two dozen countries based on their opinions on current and former banking relationships. Participants were asked to name all banks where they have or previously had a checking or savings account. The participants then rated each bank
based on various evaluation criteria including overall banking recommendation, general satisfaction, trust, terms and conditions, customer service, digital services and financial advice. The results of the Forbes Statista survey for 2020 placed BancFirst as the 10th best bank in the United States, making it the top-ranked Oklahomabased bank on the list. The full list and the accompanying article can be found on the Forbes website. See BANK, Page 5