  Britta Riggs and Jesse Beane are top students at Burnsville High School. They maintain 4.0 Grade Point Averages, play soccer, are leaders in their school and volunteer in the community.
Both have been selected as the school's ExCEL Award winners this year and will be considered for the statewide ExCEL Awards sponsored by the Minnesota State High School League.
"Both Britta and Jesse are wonderful representatives of our school," said Jeff Marshall, interim athletic director at Burnsville High School. "They are successful students who have a very positive impact on our school and the community. They certainly deserve the recognition."
ExCEL (Excellence in Community, Education and Leadership) is a unique recognition program designed exclusively for Minnesota high school juniors who are active in school activities, show leadership qualities, and are model citizens.
Every school that is a League member can nominate a girl and boy for the award. An independent panel of judges from schools throughout Minnesota will select statewide ExCEL Award recipients in January and winners will be recognized on KSTC-TV (Channel 45) during upcoming winter sports tournaments.
Most recently, Riggs was involved in helping homeless families. She was willing to jump into a lake last February in a Polar Plunge to raise funds for the Special Olympics. Locally, she helps with BrainPower in a BackPack, which provides weekend food for elementary children in need.
"It feels good to make a difference," she said.
Riggs, daughter of Mark and Jeanine Riggs of Savage, attended M.W. Savage Elementary and Eagle Ridge Junior High.
Beane volunteers every week at Vista View Elementary -- his former school. "It's good to give back to the kids," he said.
He also volunteers through this church. He is the son of Kathy and Timothy Beane of Burnsville, and attended Nicollet Junior High after his years at Vista View.
Both students have plenty of good stuff to put on their college applications. Riggs would like to attend a small private school such as Gustavus, which both her parents attended. She is thinking about majoring in education, math or literature. Beane plans to attend the University of Minnesota and study mechanical or chemical engineering.
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