SIKESTON - More than 21,600 students have recognized as the most talented seventh graders in the United States and among them are some Bootheel teens.

In June, 17 students from Sikeston, East Prairie, Morley, Chaffee, Dexter and Essex will attend state recognition ceremonies in St. Louis, sponsored by the Duke University Talent Identification Program.

"The gifted youngster is arguably America's most precious natural resource," says TIP's executive director and professor of psychology, Dr. Steven Pfeiffer.

"TIP plays a critically important role to the student -- her or his family, school and community -- in identifying America's most academically talented students. All too often, gifted students go unrecognized or overlooked by their teachers, she said.

"This is particularly true in the case of certain minority groups and less economically advantaged and more rural families, as well as among students in which English is not the primary language spoken in the home," Pfeiffer said. "TIP's identification ensures that our most precious primary resource does not go unrecognized."

Sikeston Middle School students selected for the honor include Sarah Addison, Joshua Clark, Lauren Colley, Lindsey Davis, Jason Deere, Jordan Dillender, Erica Gentry, Lindsay Leible and Nathan Sisk.

In East Prairie they are Alexis Poore and Claire Secoy.

Laura Weissmueller represents St. Augustine's Grade School in Chaffee.

Brandon Hampton was chosen from Richland High School near Essex as well as Diedra Black of Morley, who attends Guardian Angel School.

What it all boils down to, said Rodney Pensel, are smart students who have a good support system all the way around.

"I think this is a great reflection of what we're doing here," said the Sikeston Middle School principal. "I think our students were selected because of a combination of lots of things: parental support, bright children, a good learning environment and great teachers."

TIP sponsors both state recognition ceremonies and a grand recognition ceremony for the very highest scoring students. There were 3,120 Missouri students who participated in the Talent Search and from that number, 1,124 qualified for state awards. Students attending the state ceremonies scored as well or better than the average college-bound high school senior in either the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or American College Testing Assessment (ACT).

TIP's recognition ceremonies are the largest of their kind in the nation with more than 42,000 parents, students and teachers attending in 1998.

"I was excited when I found out," said 13-year-old Lindsey Davis. "It's a neat opportunity. It's not every day you get the chance to do something that older kids participate in. I don't think there are even words to describe how I feel, it's just exciting to achieve such high standards."

Students invited to the grand recognition ceremony earned a math or verbal score on the SAT or the ACT higher than 90 percent of college-bound high school seniors as part of TIP's 18th annual Talent Search.

In addition to the grand recognition ceremony, of which 118 Missouri students will attend, many Talent Search participants are also honored at ceremonies in their home states.

Working with host academic institutions, TIP sponsors 30 different state ceremonies in its 16-state Talent Search region. Speakers at the state ceremonies include university administrators and professors, state government officials and former TIP students.

TIP's Talent Search identifies seventh-graders in 16 states in the Southeast, Midwest and Southwest who have scored in the top 3 percent on a national achievement test.

Over the past decade, TIP has established itself as the largest program of its kind in the nation. Since 1980, close to one million students from all parts of the world have taken part in a TIP program.