14 from Bellevue nominated to be Presidential Scholars

February 4, 2010 2:19 pm

Fourteen students who either live in Bellevue or attend school here have been named 2010 Presidential Scholars. The program honors high school seniors who have demonstrated exceptional accomplishments during their high school careers.

Out of the 57 nominees announced for the state of Washington, nearly a quarter either attend a school in Bellevue or live in Bellevue. The names of the 14 students and the schools they attend are:

Matthew E. Anderson, Newport High School

Alexander M. Bell, Newport High School

Kathleen A. Chin, Newport High School

David A. Kaplan, Bellevue High School

Philip Lai, Bellevue High School

Changlin Li, Interlake High School

Kevin L. Liu, Newport High School

Serena X. Liu, The Overlake School

Katherine A. Long, Bellevue High School

Emily E. Meyer, Newport High School

Catherine J. Nestor, Interlake High School

Maximillian Racelis, Interlake High School

Peter Ro, Newport High School

Priyanka Saha, Interlake High School

Almost all of the nominees for the Presidential Scholars Program are decided based on the top SAT and ACT scores (excluding the writing portion on both tests) in each state. The top 20 male test-takers and the top 20 female test-takers are nominated from each state. All ties are added to the list of nominees.

From there, each of the nominees must fill out an application to be considered for semifinalist status. Out of around 500 semifinalists, 121 students are then selected to become Presidential Scholars.

Up to 60 of the nominees may also come come from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts’ YoungArts talent search. Out of these 60 students, 20 are then selected as Presidential Scholars in the Arts for a total of 141 Presidential Scholars.

The Presidential Scholars is not a scholarship, but rather a symbolic honor. Scholars are given a paid trip to Washington, D.C. in June and receive a medallion at a ceremony held in their honor.

The full list of all nominees can be found at the U.S. Department of Education website, http://www2.ed.gov/programs/psp/2010/candidates.pdf.