MPS student in the running for nation’s highest honor for graduating HS seniors
Alethia Tilford
Reagan’s Alethia Tilford is a 2015 Presidential Scholars semifinalist
A senior at Milwaukee Public Schools’ Ronald Reagan College Preparatory High School is a semifinalist for the 2015 Presidential Scholars award, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction announced Tuesday.
Alethia Tilford is one of only nine Wisconsin students in the running for the award, considered the nation’s highest honor for graduating high school seniors.
Created in 1964, the program honors some of the nation’s most distinguished high school students. Of the nation’s 3.3 million graduating seniors, only 4,300 are candidates for the award, based upon exceptional performance on the ACT or SAT college admissions test, and just 565 students earn the right to be considered semifinalists.
Candidates were invited to complete an application that includes essays, self-assessments, secondary school reports and transcripts and an independent national committee of educators selected the semifinalists.
MPS Superintendent Dr. Darienne Driver joins Reagan Principal Mike Roemer and the MPS family in congratulating Alethia on this recognition.
“We are honored that Alethia Tilford continues to represent Reagan and Milwaukee Public Schools as an outstanding scholar,” Dr. Driver said. “Thank you to Alethia and her family as well as all of the educators and support staff in MPS who have helped her grow to become the impressive young woman that she is. Alethia is an example of what MPS students can achieve, striving for excellence each and every day.”
State Superintendent Dr. Tony Evers congratulated Alethia and all the winners “for their hard work and congratulate the partners and teachers who supported this accomplishment.”
The Commission on Presidential Scholars will narrow the list of 565 semifinalists to 121 academic Presidential Scholars and 20 Presidential Scholars in the Arts before June, when winners will travel to Washington, D.C., to be recognized.
