[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 25, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E939]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   GIBBS HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR BLAINE KRAUSS NAMED PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLAR

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                          HON. C.W. BILL YOUNG

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 25, 2010

  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Madam Speaker, as we enter high school 
graduation season, I am proud to let my colleagues know that Blaine 
Krauss, a senior in the arts program at Gibbs High School in St. 
Petersburg, Florida, which I have the privilege to represent, has been 
named a Presidential Scholar.
  Blaine is the only student in the Tampa Bay area and one of only four 
in the entire State of Florida to be so recognized for his outstanding 
academic achievement and artistic excellence. He will honored at the 
White House next month along with a guest he has chosen to accompany 
him, Mr. Keven Renken, the Chairman of the Pinellas County Center for 
the Arts at Gibbs High School and Blaine's acting teacher.
  Following my remarks, I will include a story from The St. Petersburg 
Times by Luis Perez about this great national honor for Blaine.
  Madam Speaker, Blaine will be attending the University of Cincinnati 
next fall where he will major in musical theater. As his teacher says, 
he is a talented individual, but I know that he did not achieve his 
success without a lot of hard work and preparation. Please join me in 
congratulating Blaine for a job well done.

              [From the St. Petersburg Times, May 4, 2010]

  Gibbs High Senior Receives Rare National Honor: Presidential Scholar

                            (By Luis Perez)

       St. Petersburg.--Blaine Krauss, a senior in the arts 
     program at Gibbs High School, was sitting in acting class 
     Monday when he learned he had been named one of the 
     scholastic elite: a presidential scholar. In dramatic 
     fashion, he spent a good while running around the school. ``I 
     screamed with my friend and ran out of the classroom,'' said 
     Krauss, 18, of St. Petersburg. ``It took me about an hour and 
     a half to calm down.''
       Krauss is among 141 students nationwide--four in Florida 
     and the only one in the Tampa Bay area--to receive the honor 
     this year for exceptional academic achievement and artistic 
     excellence.
       Each scholar gets to invite his most inspiring or 
     challenging teacher to a White House reception this June. 
     Krauss selected Keven Renken, chairman of the Pinellas County 
     Center for the Arts at Gibbs and his acting teacher for three 
     years.
       ``Blaine is an amazingly talented student,'' said Renken, 
     who has taught for 21 years. ``He is just one of them. He has 
     it. You can just tell. He's a great singer, a great talent. 
     He's just one of the special ones.''
       Krauss, who aspires to sing on Broadway and a career in the 
     political stage, said he was glad to be part of good 
     publicity for the high school. This fall, he is entering the 
     University of Cincinnati to major in musical theatre.
       ``I am happy to be a product of Gibbs and to say that our 
     school is generating great kids,'' he said.

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