Meet Scholastic Superstar Corey Furman

Published: May 5, 2010

Meet Corey Furman...

School: Wyoming Area

Parents: Richard and Carolyn Furman

Plans: Study chemical engineering at Bucknell University

Corey Furman does it all.

Ranked third in his class, the Wyoming Area senior hits the books as hard as the baseball diamond and even does his part to better his school by serving on the student council executive board.

"The object of student council is to give back to the school, and after all Wyoming Area has provided me, I enjoy giving up my time to make my school a better place," Corey said.

For his academic and athletic achievements, Corey received the Melberger Award and the Greg Legg Annual Scholarship, given to academically outstanding high school baseball players.

The outdoors hold a prominent place in Corey's life. Off the field and out of class he works on the grounds crew at a local country club. In his spare time, he enjoys fly-fishing.

It should be no surprise, then, what he thinks should be his generation's and Northeast Pennsylvania's top priority.

"The biggest issues facing my generation are the overcoming of the reliance on natural resources and the limiting of pollution that is damaging our planet," Corey said. "I believe that the cleaning of rivers and streams would increase the tourism to the area, and would increase the interest in outdoor activity among youth."

A degree in chemical engineering from Bucknell University could put the accomplished young scholar in the forefront of that arena, but as a person he has already proven himself.

Despite the demands of his own education and extracurricular activities, Corey still made time to help his twin sister, who has learning disabilities, with her schoolwork, reading her notes into a tape recorder to aid her in her studies.

And on top of it all, Corey has hometown loyalty. After he completes his studies at Bucknell, Corey intends to return to Northeast Pennsylvania to pursue a career in chemical engineering.