20 Lake Washington Students Nominated As US Presidental Scholars

REDMOND, WA — Nearly two dozen seniors from five Lake Washington high schools were recently nominated as candidates for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program, one of the nation's top scholastic honors.

According to the district, 20 Lake Washington students are part of this year's nominees, which includes 100 students across the state and roughly 4,000 around the United States. Students qualify for selection based on their SAT and ACT performance, followed by a committee review of students' academic records, leadership skills, extracurricular activities and essay submissions.

The Commission on Presidential Scholars is scheduled to select 650 candidates to move forward as semifinalists in April, with up to 161 making the final cut as Presidential Scholars ahead of a June ceremony held in Washington, D.C.

Here are the Lake Washington students who are candidates for this year's honors:

• Simran Bagaria – Eastlake High School
• Ayana Bharadwaj – Eastlake High School
• Jay A. Dharmadhikari – Redmond High School
• Ron Dubinsky – Juanita High School
• Shivank Dutt – Nikola Tesla Stem High School
• Eli A. Friedman – Redmond High School
• David Z. Gershnik – Redmond High School
• Medhya Goel – Eastlake High School
• Audrey Gruian – Eastlake High School
• Aagney H. Iyer – Juanita High School
• Rohan A. Iyer – Nikola Tesla Stem High School
• Ronak Jaisalmeria – Redmond High School
• Helena A. Kaikkonen – Lake Washington High School
• Ana A. Letca – Redmond High School
• Nathania E. Lim – International Community School
• Conan A. Lu – Redmond High School
• Nimeesh M. Mahajan – Redmond High School
• Natasha S. Murugan – Eastlake High School
• Hila Tor – Eastlake High School
• Christine Ye – Eastlake High School

Learn more about the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program on the Department of Education's website.