Shanon Campsey of West Plains is among Missouri’s brightest high school students who attended the Missouri Scholars Academy (MSA) in June at the University of Missouri.
MSA began in 1985 and each summer provides more than 300 rising high school juniors the opportunity to expand their educational and social skills. The three-week program provides enrichment opportunities to support learning and personal development for gifted Missouri students, and offers a variety of daily extracurricular activities to enhance critical thinking and communication. More than 11,000 students have completed the academy to date.
Campsey, who attends West Plains High School, is the daughter of Abby Hess and Aym Fischer of West Plains, and Tj Campsey and Lisa Hallberg of Lawrence, Kan. As a junior, Shanon Campsey writes for the high school Ridgerunner magazine and has dabbled in theater and drama. In her free time, she enjoys creative writing, playing role-playing campaigns such as Dungeons & Dragons and volunteering at the West Plains Regional Animal Shelter. She is Red Cross-certified in CPR and first aid, which knowledge she applies as a babysitter, and she looks forward to continuing to challenge herself academically and socially with school and extracurricular activities.
"MSA was the best experience of my life,” she shared. “The people, the classes, it all legitimately changed my life forever."
As the state’s largest and oldest public, land-grant university, Mizzou has more than 30,000 students, 13,000 full-time employees and 305,000 alumni. Since 2015, the Missouri Scholars Academy has been administered by the MU Honors College.
The 2024 MSA student nomination period for current high school sophomores and home schooled students of equivalent standing is underway with a deadline of Feb. 2. For the second year in a row, the academy is free to all scholars. This year’s academy will be held from June 9 to 29. To see eligibility criteria and to nominate a student for participation this June, visit moscholars.missouri.edu/selection-process/nomination.
