US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
NEW YORK: At least 15 Indian American students are among the 2011 US Presidential Scholars this year. These students are among the 141 outstanding high school seniors who have been selected by the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars appointed by the President, for demonstrating outstanding academic achievement, artistic excellence, leadership, citizenship, service and contribution to school and community.
The Presidential Scholars will be honored for their accomplishments in Washington D.C., from June 18-21.
“The US Presidential Scholars exemplify what dedication to achievement and setting high standards can symbolize for all youth,” said US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “The Department of Education congratulates these students on their artistic and academic accomplishments.”
The 141 US Presidential Scholars include one young man and one young woman from each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and from US families living abroad, as well as 15 chosen at-large and 20 Presidential Scholars in the Arts.
For the past 47 years, this prestigious program has honored more than 6,000 of the nation’s top-performing students. Of the three million students expected to graduate from high school this year, more than 3,000 candidates qualified on the basis of outstanding performance on the College Board SAT and ACT exams, or by nomination through the nationwide YoungArts competition conducted by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts.
The US Presidential Scholars Program was created in 1964 to honor academic achievement. It was expanded in 1979 to recognize students who demonstrate exceptional talent in the visual, literary and performing arts.
Since 1983, each Presidential Scholar has invited his or her most inspiring and challenging teacher to travel to Washington, D.C., to receive a Teacher Recognition Award from the US Department of Education and to participate in the recognition events.
Among the selected 15 Indian American students are:
Teja R. Alapati of Randolph School from Huntsville, Alabama; Keshav Amla of Phoenic Country Day School from Chandler, Arizona and Amita Gupta of University High School, Tucson, Arizona; Neha Kumar of Saint Mary’s Episcopal School in Forrest City, Arkansas; Lara Mitra of Sidwell Friends School, Washington DC; Akshay V. Save of Lake Mary High School in Longwood, Florida; Rohit Agrawal of Wayzata High School from Plymouth, Minnesota; Samantha S. Nanayakkara of Mississippi School for Mathematics & Science, Oxford, Mississippi; Sanchay Gupta of The Meadows School, Las Vegas, Nevada; Divya V. Shah of Clarkstown High School South in West Nyack, New York; Anjali R. Sawh of Edmond North High School, Edmond, Oklahoma; Joya A. Ahmad of William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Karthik Sethuraman of William P. Clements High School in Sugar Land, Texas; and Arjun S. Dhillon of Fort Atkinson High School in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.
India Post News Service
