Talk of the Neighborhood highlights Central Texans’ achievements.

* Class Acts *

* Midway High School graduate Emily Reeder (right) received a $1,000 Cargill Community Scholarship for the 2010-11 school year. Emily plans to use the funds to pursue a degree at the College of William & Mary in Virginia.

She is one of 1,446 recipients though the scholarship program administered by National FFA this year. Emily was selected out of 8,305 applicants from across the country.

* Reicher Catholic High School student Ashley Poston, was named a 2010 recipient of the Saint Michael’s Book Award for Academic Achievement with a Social Conscience.

The award recognizes students who demonstrate a commitment to leadership in volunteer service and academic achievement. Award recipients are high school juniors who are inductees of the National Honor Society or an equivalent school-sponsored honors organization.

She is the daughter of Mike and Amy Poston of Hewitt.

* Saemmul Lee of Waco, the daughter of the Rev. Gooil Lee and Hanna Lee, received a Associate in Arts degree from Oxford College of Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., at its May commencement ceremony.

* William Holt Bostwick of Waco has been named to the dean’s list at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., for the Easter 2010 term. He is the child of Linda and Frederick deBurlo Bostwick III.

* Diane Valahu of Waco, the daughter of Dr. Dan T. Valahu and Claude B. Valahu, was named to the dean’s list for the spring semester at Emory College, the liberal arts college, of Emory University in Atlanta.

* Applause *

* Tim Brown (right) was elected president and chief executive officer of Methodist Children’s Home in Waco.

Brown held various leadership roles during 26 years of service at Methodist Children’s Home, most recently as vice president for community services.

Brown had served as president and chief executive officer of Lee and Beulah Moor Children’s Home in El Paso from 1991-2000. He returned to Central Texas to serve as vice president of child care at Methodist Children’s Home.

A resident of Crawford, Brown earned degrees from Baylor University and Tarleton State University. He and his wife, Susan, have three children.

* Sara Meredith Cummings (right) of Wichita Falls was honored as a visiting duchess at the 49th annual Admirals Club coronation in Austin this weekend.

She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Corky Bogan Cummings. Her mother is the former Margaret Humphries of Waco. Meredith is a business major at the University of Texas at Austin and is a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority.

* In the Military *

* Army Pfc. Martin Arellano, a 2007 graduate of Waco High School, has graduated from the Infantryman One Station Unit Training at Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga. The training consists of basic infantry training and advanced individual training.

He is the son of Delia Arellano of Waco.