Six New Jersey students, including three from Bergen County, were named 2024 U.S. Presidential Scholars, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona announced on Thursday.
This achievement presented by U.S. Department of Education recognizes 161 high school seniors for their accomplishments in the academics, the arts and in their career and technical education field.
Here are the New Jersey scholars with hometown, name, school, location (county vocational-technical school students are in bold):
Annandale – Selina S. Zhang, North Hunterdon High School, Annandale
Cresskill – Harmony Zhu, The Brearley School, New York (Presidential Scholar in the Arts)
Edison – Pranav Sitaraman, Middlesex County Academy for Science Math & Engineering, Edison.
Paramus – Iris Hur, Bergen County Academies, Hackensack (Presidential Scholar in the Arts)
Ramsey – Nicholas Yoo, Delbarton School, Morristown (Presidential Scholar in the Arts)
Summit – Gabrielle Liberman, Kent Place School, Summit, (Presidential Scholar in the Arts)
The Presidential Scholars are selected by the Commission on Presidential Scholars, a group of 21 private citizens appointed by the president to select and honor students. This group of commissioners represents many fields including education, medicine, law, social services, business and other professions.
These scholars are evaluated and selected based on academic success, excellence in the arts and in technical education, essays, school evaluations and transcripts, as well as a commitment to community service and leadership.
More than 5,700 students met the qualifications to become selected as a scholar. Those who were chosen needed an outstanding performance on the College Board SAT or ACT exams, or needed nominations from chief state school officers, other partner recognition organizations and YoungArts or the National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists.
The committee then narrows down their selection, choosing two students from each state, and also includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. families living abroad. An additional 15 students are chosen at-large, with another 20 scholars in the arts and 20 scholars in career and technical education.
These scholars “represent the best of our nation’s schools and inspire hope in the bright future of this country,” said Cardona.
This year is the program’s 60th anniversary. An online recognition program will honor the Presidential Scholars Class of 2024 this summer.
The full list of this year’s program can be found here.
This article originally appeared May 9, 2024 on NorthJersey.com.
