Westlake High School Has US Presidential Scholar Nominee

WESTLAKE, OH - One of the nation's highest honors for high school students is the US Presidential Scholar designation. Each year 161 students across the nation earn that honor, and in 2017 one Westlake student has a chance to be named a US Presidential Scholar.

Krantz wants to study chemical engineering, but he doesn't know where yet. He's likely got a ton of options because he also scored a perfect 36 on his ACT and is a National Merit Commended Scholar. His extracurriculars include Academic Challenge and Science Olympiad teams. He likes basketball, soccer, reading science fiction, and listening to rock and roll.

To qualify for the US Presidential Scholar Award, students have to prove their excellence in a variety of ways, including ACT and SAT scores, academic performance, and extracurriculars. Students must be invited to the contest to compete.

From the current pool of national candidates, approximately 800 semifinalists will be named and then forwarded to a commission for further review. The final decision will be made in April, when the 161 Scholars will be named. Two people from each state, a male and a female, will be chosen. There will also be Scholars selected from Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and US citizens living abroad. Another 15 students will be selected as at-large Scholars.

Once they're selected, the students will receive a trip to Washington D.C. (all expenses paid, of course). A ceremony will be held in June and the students receive a medallion at an event sponsored by the White House. In its history, the federal program has honored more than 7,000 U. S. Presidential Scholars.

Photo from Westlake Schools