Punahou seniors sweep Presidential Scholar honors for state
By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Education Writer
Three Punahou School seniors will travel to Washington, D.C., next month to be recognized as Presidential Scholars, the U.S. Department of Education announced yesterday.
Each state has a male and female winner — Hawai'i's are Avery Cavanah and William Jacobson — but Hawai'i has a third representative this year because poet Chris Schmicker was also selected as one of 20 Presidential Scholars in the Arts.
The students and their most influential teachers — Marguerite Ashford, Edward Moore and Norman Hindley, respectively — will join the other 138 scholars for National Recognition Week June 19-22. At the end of the week, each scholar will be presented with a Presidential Scholars Medallion at the White House.
Ashford, also a dean, said the school was stunned to have all three winners because they expected the awards to be spread around to other schools. However, she had no doubt the students deserved the honors. "It's sounds a little trite to say, but they're each outstanding. They're very talented academically, of course, but they also give to the community in other ways. I think they're very well-rounded," she said.
Students were invited to apply for the program based on outstanding College Board SAT or ACT assessments or nominations from the nationwide Arts Recognition and Talent Search conducted by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts.
All three of the winners are athletes, and Jacobson and Cavanah are active in community service. Schmicker participates in arts organizations and the school's literary magazine and newspaper. He has won several national writing awards and was published in "You are Here, This is Now: The Best Young Artists and Writers in America," by Push, a Scholastic Inc., book series for teens.
Cavanah said she is looking forward to meeting winners from other states. Past winners have had stellar accomplishments and, she said, "I can't wait to hear what other students my age have done."
Reach Treena Shapiro at 525-8014 or tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.
