Student selections for the 18th annual exchange with Laurinburg's sister city of Oban, Scotland have been announced by the Oban Exchange Committee. A total of 19 Scotland High School students applied for the 10 positions; interviews were held Sunday at the Laurinburg/Scotland County Chamber of Commerce offices on Atkinson Street in Laurinburg.

Dr. Bear Hughes is chairman of the Oban Exchange Committee.

"We had a lot of qualified applicants," Hughes said. "The interviews all went well, and it was difficult to choose 10 from this great pool of students."

Students selected for the 2010 exchange are Kayla Pate, daughter of Roger and Sheila Pate; Katherine Britt, daughter of Tommy and Jacque Britt; Caleb Wood, son of Greg and Cheryl Wood; Ryan Haines, son of Phillip and Gayle Haines; Zach Fore, son of Chris and Jennifer Fore; Will Purcell, son of Bill and Terri Purcell, Katie Shytle, daughter of Chip and Evelyn Shytle; Josh Altman, son of Tim and Johanna Altman; Eleanor Sojka, daughter of Nick and Lucy Sojka; and Brittany Young, daughter of Chris and Robin Young.

Four core criteria were used in the decision making process, according to Hughes.

"Students must be a rising junior or senior, a resident of Scotland County, have no out of school suspensions, and must not have been an exchange student in a previous program. We're basically looking for well rounded kids, active in school, who we feel would be good ambassadors for Scotland County."

A junior in the Scotland High School of Math, Science, and Technology, Will Purcell was excited to be nominated as a 2010 representative to Oban.

"I am very honored to have been selected," he said, "and really excited to have the opportunity to visit another country. I'm looking forward to learning more about how Laurinburg and Oban are intertwined."

The son of Bill and Terri Purcell of Laurinburg, Will's family has been active in the exchange program for a number of years.

"My sister Lisa has been on the exchange program, and we hosted a Scottish student when I was a freshman," he said. "My grandfather signed the sister city proclamation in 1993 to move forward with the exchange when he was mayor of Laurinburg."

In addition to Hughes, the selection committee was comprised of Becca Hughes, representing the Laurinburg Rotary Club; Jim Pleasant, the parent of a past student participant; Lee Anne Harling, a member of a previous year's selection committee; Nancy Butler, a chaperone of the previous exchange group; and Charity Chavis, an exchange student from the previous group.

Beacham McDougald, creator of the exchange program and now a liaison on the Oban Exchange Committee, was pleased with the pool of students who applied for next year's exchange.

"I felt like we had 19 sensational kids, all well qualified and great potential ambassadors for Scotland County," he said. "It was unfortunate that we had to choose only 10. More than one person on the selection committee expressed the wish that we could send all 19. But due to restraints, we picked the 10 we felt would make the best representatives for the county."

The selected students will arrive in Oban on June 10, 2010 and reside with local families until their return June 24. While in Scotland, they will visit schools and historical sites, and will participate in group activities. On Oct. 7, 2010 their Oban hosts will visit Scotland County for a two week stay. While in America the Oban group is scheduled to visit local schools, the North Carolina mountains, Ocean Isle Beach, the North Carolina State Fair, and will participate in numerous group activities.

Chaperones for the 2010 Oban exchange will be the Hon. William J. McIlwain and his wife, Sherry.

Kayla Pate was also selected by the committee to receive the Jane M. Purcell Memorial Scholarship. Two other students, Zachary Fore and Brittany Young, received scholarships from the Laurinburg Rotary Club.