Friends of Vocational Technical & Agricultural Education,
Eleven years ago, the U.S. Presidential Scholars program was expanded to include CTE students specifically. Presidential Scholars in CTE are selected for their “outstanding scholarship and demonstrated ability and accomplishment in career and technical education fields.” Nominees are selected from each state in the country based on their academic rigor, technical competence, employability skills, and ingenuity and creativity.
Our vocational technical & agricultural students are again actively engaged in this competition for 2024-2025. Students were nominated by their school to DESE, and we are pleased to begin to share the results as to this year’s Massachusetts nominees.
We learned this afternoon from Warley Williams, Principal of Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical, that student Kendra Santiago has been selected by Acting Commissioner Russell D. Johnston and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to represent the state as one of the U.S. CTE Presidential Scholar nominees from Massachusetts.
MAVA is most proud of Kendra, and we anxiously await the names of the other four (4) CTE Scholars. We wish Kendra continued success in the next round of competition.
Best wishes!
David
“CTE where STEM Goes to Work”
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<![endif]>We are pleased to inform you that Kendra Santiago has been selected by Acting Commissioner Russell D. Johnston and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to represent the state as one of the U.S. Presidential Scholar nominees from Massachusetts. This year’s selection process was highly competitive, with many outstanding submissions from across the state.
Thank you for your efforts in submitting information about your students for consideration this fall and highlighting their hard work and accomplishments. All students submitted demonstrated commendable achievements, and we appreciate your support throughout this process.
Please note that the nominees selected by DESE, including Kendra, will be invited by the U.S. Department of Education’s (USED) national review team to complete a new application for consideration for the U.S. Presidential Scholar Award. Application information is expected to be mailed by USED to the students approximately mid-late January 2025. For additional details about the program, please refer to this DESE Presidential Scholar Webpage as well as this USED webpage.
The DESE review team was highly impressed with Kendra’s submission and is proud to have her represent Massachusetts as one of the nominees for this prestigious award.
We kindly ask that you print the attached Certification of Recognition and share it with Kendra. If you prefer a printed copy mailed to you, please confirm the preferred mailing address.
The team at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education wishes Kendra the best of luck in the next stage of this exciting opportunity!
Sincerely,
The Presidential Scholar Review Team
| Yi-Juin Liu, PhD
W 781-338-6312 Yi-Juin.Liu |
Office of Student and Family Support
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