Granger Cocke, a senior at Highland spent eight weeks last summer researching the diets of woodrats and how they are able to metabolize the large amount of toxins in their diet. By isolating and cloning the liver enzyme DNA from woodrats, he was able to sequence it to find out what amino acids in the DNA allowed the woodrat to eat and metabolize large quantities of plant toxins without dying.Out of the 300 students who applied, Cocke was one of 20 who were accepted.

Cocke’s research even landed him in a research paper written by the group who he helped.

Cocke is this year’s sterling scholar in the field of science. The award requires that a student show exceptional dedication to their academics, contributed through service, and has shown leadership in or out of school. Cocke was a cross country team captain his junior year as well as this past season. He was a team captain for his club soccer team his sophomore year, and a track team captain his junior year.

Cocke’s time spent researching, as well as his time spent as a team captain for a variety of sports were not specifically for the sterling scholar award, but rather the award was a byproduct of his time and effort he put into both.

“Getting recognition wasn’t my goal, the experience itself was reward enough, but it’s always nice when you work hard towards a goal and it pays off” Cocke said.

Cocke attributes his success to the long hours his parents and teachers spent helping him reach his goals. Cocke has friends who have received the award in past years, but it was Monica French, a chemistry teacher here at Highland who really pushed him to apply for the award.

“What made Granger a great candidate for the award was his good academics and the time he has spent with applied science outside of the classroom. He is highly motivated, and was determined to reach his goal. It’s pretty amazing for a highschool student to be able to have participated in a study” French said.