2 Lake Washington Students Are Presidential Scholar Semifinalists

REDMOND, WA — Two Lake Washington School District seniors were honored as semifinalists in the highly competitive U.S. Presidential Scholars Program this month.

According to the district, Andrew Shi, of Redmond High School and Amay Bansal, of Eastlake High school, joined only a dozen other Washington students who made it to the semifinalist round. The program selected 625 semifinalists out of 4,500 candidates for the program across the nation.

While the students did not make it to the final round, the district said being selected for the program is one of the biggest honors possible for graduating seniors. Candidates are chosen across a variety of metrics, including academic and artistic performance, leadership skills, and community and school activities.

Finalists and winners were selected by a group of 32 scholars appointed by the President, and the scholars head to Washington, D.C. in the summer to receive Presidential Scholar medallions.