Solon High Student Wins Presidential Scholar Award

Lisa Guo, a senior at Solon High, was selected as a Presidential Scholar for 2012. She is one of only two Ohio students to win the award.

The winners were announced May 2.

Guo was one of four finalists from Solon High School, chosen from a pool of thousands of students across the country. Only 141 students won the award. Solon's other finalists were Oliver W. Chen, Michael B. Li and Johnathan Zeng.

Guo was one of the Solon students honored by President Barack Obama at the White House Science Fair in February.

She listed Robin Joseph, a Solon High social studies teacher, as her most inspirational.

The four students were picked from a pool of thousands of students across the U.S. named as candidates in the annual Presidential Scholars Program, one of the nation's highest honors for graduating seniors. Application to the program is by invite only, and based on ACT and SAT scores.

"Honoring Presidential Scholars is an important celebration of students showing the dedication, creativity and ambition to become future leaders," said Education Secretary Arne Duncan in a news release. "As national, state and local leaders work side by side with principals, teachers, and parents to make our schools better, we can learn from the students all around us whose hard work and accomplishments embody the kind of excellence we want every child to achieve."