Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (I-Sag Harbor) is seeking assistance from his local high schools in making nominations for the Presidential Scholars Program. The Presidential Scholars Program was established by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and recognizes high school seniors based on outstanding scholarship.

In 2021, The State Education Department Commissioner, Betty A. Rosa, will nominate twenty high school seniors – ten females and ten males – from New York to be considered for this honor. As you contemplate the selection of your nominees, it may be helpful to consider what attributes the student possesses which make him or her stand out as having outstanding scholarship and what special challenges or obstacles the student has overcome while still achieving high academic success. In making the selection, the Commissioner will consider involvement and service in school and community, leadership and character, writing samples, academic achievements, heavy workload, family responsibilities and extraordinary achievement or large hurdles overcome. The Education Department is also interested in nominations that describe how the student’s family, teachers, and administrators have better prepared him or her to succeed in college and career.

In addition to those nominations, Commissioner Rosa is asking for an additional student to be included as a candidate for recognition for excellence in Career and Technical Education (CTE). She will nominate up to five students in CTE programs, considering academic rigor, technical competence, employability skills, as well as ingenuity, creativity and real-world problem solving.

Please submit a letter of nomination (no greater than two pages each) for one female and one male student as well as an additional CTE student candidate by October 28, 2021 to Assemblyman Fred Thiele at thielef@nyassembly.gov or 3350 Noyac Road, Building B, Sag Harbor, NY 11963. Your letter must include the student’s name, gender, home mailing address, email address, as well as the high school name and its mailing address. Eligible students include high school seniors graduating between January and June of 2022 who are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.

Please note that eligible students who are nominated by Commissioner Rosa and other recognition organizations, will be invited to apply in January by a letter in the mail from the Commission on Presidential Scholars and the U.S. Department of Education. Those who choose to apply, and whose applications are complete, will then be considered to move on in the selection process. The Commission on Presidential Scholars will select the 2022 U.S. Presidential Scholars, who will receive the Presidential Scholars Medallion.

For more information about the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program and the Commission on Presidential Scholars please visit: www.ed.gov/psp.