U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona announced Thursday that three Georgia high school students were among 161 young Americans selected as presidential scholars this year.
Two of them are from north metro Atlanta suburbs: Ty Anthony Hubert of Creekview High School in Canton and Ayush G. Gundawar of South Forsyth High School in Cumming.
The third Georgian in this 58th class of U.S. Presidential Scholars is Charlye Allen of Early County High School in Blakely.
“Today, I join President Biden to celebrate a class of scholars whose pursuit of knowledge, generosity of spirit, and exceptional talents bring our nation tremendous pride,” Cardona said in a written statement. “Throughout one of the most trying periods in our nation’s history and amid our recovery from the pandemic, our students have once again demonstrated their strength and that they have so much to contribute to our country.”
Hubert will attend the U.S. Air Force Academy, according to the Cherokee County School District. “Ty is an incredibly impressive student and leader, and we’re so proud to see him recognized nationally for his dedication to excellence,” Superintendent Brian Hightower said in a news release.
Credit: CONTRIBUTED
Credit: CONTRIBUTED
Gundawar founded a free online tutoring platform in 2020 called LearnForsyth. It was in response to the pandemic and served over 800 students, his high school principal, Laura Wilson, said through a spokeswoman. “Ayush is an amazing young man.”
Scholars are selected based on academics, artistic and technical excellence, essays and community service and leadership.
Credit: Alyssa Pointer
Credit: Alyssa Pointer
About 3.7 million are expected to graduate from high school this year. More than 5,000 were in the running for the award based on their SAT or ACT exam scores or on nominations by state officials or organizations such as YoungArts or the National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists.
The program was established in 1964, and has expanded over the years to include the arts and technical education. The scholars come from each state and Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. (Students living abroad are also considered.) There are two selected per state — a male and a female — plus 15 selected at-large, and another 20 from the arts and 20 from career and technical education.
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