On Wednesday, May 4, the U.S. Department of Education announced the 160 members of the 52nd class of U.S. Presidential Scholars – which ACTE is pleased to announce includes, for the first time, 20 CTE students! This award recognizes student achievement at the national level, and acknowledges scholars in academics, the arts and CTE. U.S. Secretary of Education John King said in the release:
"This year's class of Presidential Scholars continues a more than 50 year trend of honoring students who've shown excellence in their educational, artistic and civic pursuits… we've added 20 more slots to honor our highest achieving students in career and technical education, reflecting the Department's belief that a quality education must be a well-rounded education that prepares students for college, careers and any other civic service."
The announcement marks the culmination of a longtime effort among CTE advocates and our partners on Capitol Hill to ensure that CTE student achievement is recognized alongside their peers in other disciplines. In May of 2014, ACTE worked with Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Rob Portman (R-OH) to send a letter to President Obama requesting the expansion of the Presidential Scholars program. The letter motivated President Obama to sign into effect an amendment to executive order No. 11155, “Awards for Special Capability in Career and Technical Education,” which formally created the new category of recipient for this honor.
The scholars will each receive a Presidential Scholar Medallion during a ceremony on June 19th, and ACTE congratulates each of them on their outstanding achievement. The full list of U.S. Presidential Scholars in CTE is listed below.
List of 20 U. S. Presidential Scholars in CTE
Arkansas
AR - Jonesboro - Jordan Lee, Nettleton High School
Connecticut
CT - Stamford - Tanusri V Balla, Academy of Information Technology
Georgia
GA - Roswell - Jose L Espinel, Alan C. Pope High School
Hawaii
HI - Mililani - Joseph A Fujinami, Mililani High School
Illinois
IL - Cerro Gordo - Sierra R Day, Cerro Gordo High School
IL - Chicago - Madeline P Poole, Chicago HS Agricultural Science
Maryland
MD - Fulton - Meghna S Sreenivas, Reservoir High School
MD - Severna Park - Norman Xiong, Severna Park Senior High School
MD - Woodstock - Nicholas M Santangelo, Marriotts Ridge High School
Massachusetts
MA - North Adams - Samantha N Dorwin, Charles H Mccann Technical School
Michigan
MI - Coldwater - Mindy S Young, Coldwater Senior High School
Nebraska
NE - Lyons - Brent R Miller, Lyons-Decatur Northeast School
Nevada
NV - Las Vegas - Mackenzie R Wooten, Northwest Career and Tech Academy
North Carolina
NC - Mount Olive - Carter M Jones, Southern Wayne High School
Tennessee
TN - McMinnville - Marlie A Montandon, Warren County High School
Texas
TX - Spring - Mohammad H Rahim, Carl Wunsche Sr. High School
Utah
UT - Bountiful - Makayla Hendricks, Bountiful High School
Washington
WA - Silverdale - Madison Largey, Central Kitsap High School
WA - Sumner - Alyssa M McGee, Sumner High School
Wisconsin
WI - Cambridge - Kendra L Spier, Cambridge Senior High School
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