Alison Duck, a Parkside High School senior, has been awarded a full Banneker/Key academic scholarship by the University of Maryland College Park.

Alison Duck, a Parkside High School senior, has been awarded a full Banneker/Key academic scholarship by the University of Maryland.

The Banneker/Key scholarship is the University of Maryland's most prestigious academic award for undergraduates and is bestowed upon the top 1 percent of entering freshmen each year. Identified through a competitive evaluation of admission application materials, scholarship candidates are reviewed in areas of academic achievement, standardized test scores, letters of recommendation, extracurricular activities, awards, honors and essays.  Every year about 400 Banneker/Key Semifinalists are invited to campus in the spring for an interview before the 250 finalists of the full Banneker/Key are selected. All Banneker/Key Semifinalists are offered admission into the Honors College.

Duck has served as President of the Wicomico County Public Schools Latin Club, a member of the National Honor Society, National Science Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Junior Classical League and National Latin Honor Society as well as the Parkside Math Team. She has earned Summa Cum Laude, Maxima Cum Laude, Cum Laude status on the National Latin Exam in the past four years. She was chosen as a Youth Ambassador by Choptank Electrical Cooperative for its National Youth Tour in Washington, DC this past summer. She has maintained a perfect 4.0 unweighted grade point average throughout high school while completing eight Advanced Placement classes.

She also has earned letters as a member of the Parkside Cross Country, Indoor Track and Softball teams. She earned All-Conference status and was a state qualifier in Cross Country this fall, and was named Honorable Mention – Bayside South for softball in her junior year.   At age 13, she won the Class B division for Bench Rest Shooting – Open Sight at the Salisbury Gun Club, competing against adult shooters. She has served as assistant wrestling tournament director for the JV War on the Shore at Stephen Decatur and the JV Bob Rowe Classic in Salisbury and as a volunteer pitching coach for Wicomico County Recreation and Parks youth softball.

She plans on a double major of physics and astronomy.