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Idaho nominations open for Presidential Scholars |
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September 22, 2017 |
Idaho high school seniors interested in being
nominated for the U.S. Presidential Scholars
Program are urged to submit applications to the
State Department of Education by October 25.
The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was
established in 1964 by executive order of the
president to recognize and honor some of our
nation's most distinguished graduating seniors.
In 1979, the program was extended to recognize
students who demonstrate exceptional talent in
the visual, creative and performing arts.
In 2015, the program was again extended to
recognize students who demonstrate ability and
accomplishment in career and technical education
fields. Each year, up to 161 students are named
as Presidential Scholars, one of the nation's
highest honors for high school students.
Seniors will be considered for automatic
participation if they will graduate during the
2017-18 school year and scored exceptionally
well on either the SAT or the ACT college
admission test during the two-year window from
September 2015 through October 2017.
The U.S. Department of Education looks at test
records in each state, and the top 20 male
examinees and top 20 female examinees are used
to identify the automatic candidates in each
state. The minimum scores for automatic
consideration for females are anticipated to be:
ACT 136, old SAT 1510 or new SAT 1540. For
males, those anticipated minimum scores are: ACT
139, old SAT 1540 or new SAT 1560.
In addition, Superintendent of Public
Instruction Sherri Ybarra may nominate up to 10
male and 10 female Idaho candidates who have
demonstrated outstanding scholarship but have
not been automatically selected. Students who
have not been notified by the Presidential
Scholars Program of their eligibility, and who
would like to be considered for a nomination by
Superintendent Ybarra, should:
* Submit an essay not to exceed 500 words describing what improvements
they would make in some component of the
educational system of the United States.
* Submit a self-assessment describing their personal characteristics,
leadership and service activities in their
school and community, their academic
achievements and any special challenges or
hurdles, if any, that the student has overcome
while still achieving high academic success.
* Send a copy of their transcripts.
* Provide a letter of recommendation from a high school counselor,
principal or teacher.
Provide a separate page of contact information
that includes:
1) The student’s name;
2) The student’s home mailing address;
3) The name and mailing address of the student’s high school;
4) The high school CEEB code.
Those five documents (essay, self-assessment,
transcripts, recommendation and contact
information) should be sent as separate attached
PDFs in a single e-mail, to:
keveritt@sde.idaho.gov.
Superintendent Ybarra also can nominate up to
five students based on their accomplishments in
career and technical education fields. Those
students should submit the same materials listed
above but should note in the self-assessment
they are seeking a CTE nomination.
For more information on the CTE component of the
program go to the Presidential Scholars page on
the SDE website at
https://www.sde.idaho.gov/events/presidential-scholars/index.html.
The arts component of the Presidential Scholars
program requires participation in the YoungArts
program and uses a separate selection process.
There are no superintendent nominations. Contact
the YoungArts program at
http://goo.gl/uRQ1O3
for more information.
All graduating high school seniors currently
attending schools in Idaho who are citizens of
the United States or are Legal Permanent U.S.
Residents are eligible to apply.
In January, candidates selected by the
Commission on Presidential Scholars for final
consideration will be notified and sent a series
of application materials. In late March,
approximately 500 semifinalists will be chosen
by an independent national committee of
educators convened by the commission.
Six to 20 semifinalists will be identified for
each state/jurisdiction by the review committee.
The number of semifinalists identified per
state/jurisdiction is based on a proportionate
number of test-takers for that state.
In April, the Commission on Presidential
Scholars will make the final selection of 121
students. One young man and one young woman are
chosen from each state, the District of
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and
from families of U.S. citizens living abroad. In
addition, up to 15 students are chosen at large.
For more information on the Presidential
Scholars Program,
click here. |
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