[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Page 17403]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARS

  Mr. OBAMA. Mr. President, on May 3, 2005, Secretary of Education 
Margaret Spellings announced the selection of 141 outstanding American 
high school seniors as the 2005 Presidential Scholars. The Presidential 
Scholars Program serves to honor outstanding students for their 
accomplishments in academics or the arts, as well as for their 
leadership, character and civic contributions to their schools and 
communities.
  The United States Presidential Scholars Program was established in 
1964 by Executive order of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The 
Presidential Scholars Program annually selects one male and one female 
student from each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto 
Rico, American students living abroad, 15 at-large students, and up to 
20 students in the arts. The students are selected on the basis of 
outstanding scholarship, service, leadership, and creativity through a 
rigorous selection and review process administered by the Department of 
Education. Over 5,000 of the Nation's top students have been honored as 
Presidential Scholars since this prestigious program's founding.
  Of the 141 exceptional students recognized from across the United 
States for 2005, I would especially like to recognize three students 
from the great State of Illinois for their accomplishments.
  I send my congratulations to the following students for their 
accomplishments in academics: Kelly A. Zalocusky from Belleville High 
School East in Belleville, IL, and her teacher Philip C. Short; and 
Edgar P. Woznica from Fenwick High School in Oak Park, IL, and his 
teacher Ramzi Farran. For her accomplishments in the arts, I would like 
to congratulate Marcella J. Capron from Loyola Academy in Wilmette, IL, 
and her teacher Leslie Yatabe.
  Please join me in congratulating the 2005 Presidential Scholars for 
their accomplishments in academics and the arts. I wish them all the 
best in their future endeavors.

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