Several Presidential Scholar finalists in Naperville area
Several Naperville-area high school students have been named candidates for the U.S. Presidential Scholars program.
The program was established in 1964 to recognize some of the nation’s most distinguished graduating high school seniors, expanded in 1979 to recognize students who demonstrate exceptional talent in the visual, creative and performing arts and expanded again in 2015 to recognize students in career and technical education fields.
Application is by invitation only. Each year, up to 161 students are named U.S. Presidential Scholars. A commission will review the finalist applicants in April and the scholars notified in June.
Naperville School District 203 has eight candidates: Eric T. Gu and Diya Kannan from Naperville Central High School and Michael P. Fleming, Yikai Liu, Anna-Maria Olarov, Aaryana M. Parekh, Julie F. Piot and Krishna Pothapragada from Naperville North High School.
Indian Prairie School District 204 had 16 candidates.
Finalists from Naperville who attend Waubonsie Valley High School are Shaun Bahl, Parnitha S. Bandla, Neha M. Nadgauda, Peter Nitsche, Saishreyas S. Peddainti and Sriman Tipirneni. Aurora residents who attend Waubonsie Valley High School are Smirtha Jeyakrishnan and Maya E. Sanny.
Neuqua Valley High School finalists are Alex K. Chatterjee and Nivedita Thirthamattur of Naperville and Aadi Pandit of Bolingbrook. Metea Valley High School student Kavya V. Sheth of Aurora is a District 204 finalist.
Benet Academy had two candidates: Mina R. Chang, of Naperville, and David A. Haroldsen, of Aurora.
Area students attending the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy who qualified are Pranet Swain, of Aurora, and Annabelle Zhang, of Naperville.
Naperville resident Isaac L. Chang, who is homeschooled, is also a candidate.
Naperville resident Samhita Subramanian and Aurora residents Declan J. Bowman, Anna E. Buchenauer and Kayla J. Newburg, all students at Waubonsie Valley High School, are candidates in Career and Technical Education.
Park district spring program guide to be posted Feb. 28
Naperville Park District will post its spring program guide to the district’s website at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28.
The program guide includes registration information for spring break and summer camps, baseball and softball programs, garden plot rentals and upcoming special events.
Registration for spring programs and summer camps starts at 8:30 a.m. Monday, March 4, for residents and Thursday, March 7, for nonresidents.
T-ball, baseball and softball registration begins at noon Tuesday, March 12, for residents and Thursday, March 14, for nonresidents.
Garden plot registration opens at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 19, for residents and Thursday, March 21, for nonresidents.
Registration for spring break camps and Centennial Beach memberships for the summer are ongoing.
The park district has added new summer camp options, including STEAM, drawing and coding camps, as well as new programs and trips for adults and seniors.
For more information, go to www.napervilleparks.org.
