about a certificate from the President to "top 100 students"

[moon]

A woman I know posted in her facebook page that her grandniece (who is in elementary school), just received a hand signed certificate fom President Obama for being among the "100 top students in the nation"

I've never heard of such certificate, and frankly, it sounds absurd to me (starting with how they can pick the top 100 on greades alone), but I wanted to ask DIS parents if they know what she's talking about.

Is she confused or just making the whole thing up?

(She also says this is the third one she gets. She has two previous ones from Bush).

 

[klj27]

I wonder if it is the Presidential Fitness Award. Not very rare at all.

 

[moon]

I wonder if it is the Presidential Fitness Award. Not very rare at all.

No, it's supposed to be for academic achivement

 

[ccgirl]

A woman I know posted in her facebook page that her grandniece (who is in elementary school), just received a hand signed certificate fom President Obama for being among the "100 top students in the nation"

I've never heard of such certificate, and frankly, it sounds absurd to me (starting with how they can pick the top 100 on greades alone), but I wanted to ask DIS parents if they know what she's talking about.

Is she confused or just making the whole thing up?

(She also says this is the third one she gets. She has two previous ones from Bush).

Or, maybe it is the highest grades on a standardized test such as the IOWA's.? Not sure why it's absurd to pick the top students on grades alone. That is what the valedictorian is. In any event, I can see why the woman you know is proud and would post that on facebook. What an accomplishment.

 

[moon]

I wonder if it is the Presidential Fitness Award. Not very rare at all.

No, it's supposed to be for academic achievement

 

[krcit]

Both of my dd's got something from the president at their grade school graduations. I just went to see if I could find them but I can't Anyway, there were for academic excellence or something. I don't recall anything about top 100, about 20 kids or more in their school alone got them.


Can I add I hate those braggy FB posts? I know sometimes you're just so proud of your kid that you can burst but I have some friends that list every report card grade. Ughh. Really?

 

[divabydisney]

I don't think it's absurd at all! How great that someone of his status is recognizing students for academic achievement. I may be a little biased as my son just got selected based on his grades to attend a public AP school but in 6th grade?, that's pretty hard to do. Only 10 kids got selected. So not to toot my own horn but I'm pretty dang proud. With all the recognition and incentives for sports, I think it's nice to have some attention to the kids who work hard to keep up their grades. Especially considering the issues they face in today's environment. Some parents today don't even care what grade their kid brings home. So kudos to her for receiving one, you won't get any complaints from me.

 

[moon]

Or, maybe it is the highest grades on a standardized test such as the IOWA's.? Not sure why it's absurd to pick the top students on grades alone. That is what the valedictorian is. In any event, I can see why the woman you know is proud and would post that on facebook. What an accomplishment.

I believe to be absurd because she said it was the top 100 in the NATION. The WHOLE US.

The are millions upon millions of kids in school in the us. How can they determine the top hundred on grades alone? She would have to have done somethig really extraordinary to excell that way.

And yes, it would be an amazing accomplishment. I bet it would make the news and the school she goes to would make a big deal about it. But so far, only this lady has mantioned it

 

[5Slays]

It is a certificate for academic achievement and it is for making the upper percentile (I can't remember the exact percentage) on the State's Standardized test. But it is not a top 100 students of the county, I think it may be called President's Scholar or something like that.

 

[bdcp]

Not sure why they'd call it the top 100 students because it would be hard enough to come up with the top 100 students in a county, much less the country.

My oldest DS was top of his school all the way through middle school and then he went to a science and tech HS where everyone was top of their schools up til then. Competition was stiff to get in, but no one ever got anything like "top 100 students". They were in who's who, national merit scholars, stuff like that. And most of them were recognized in their home county for academic achievement. But, I have never heard of what the OP posted.

 

[mrsv98]

A woman I know posted in her facebook page that her grandniece (who is in elementary school), just received a hand signed certificate fom President Obama for being among the "100 top students in the nation"

I've never heard of such certificate, and frankly, it sounds absurd to me (starting with how they can pick the top 100 on greades alone), but I wanted to ask DIS parents if they know what she's talking about.

Is she confused or just making the whole thing up?

(She also says this is the third one she gets. She has two previous ones from Bush).

DD received the President's Award for Academic Excellence this year:

It is for a high GPA, high test scores and recommendation of the teacher. The certificate is really nice and is hand signed in certain areas, but I really don't think President Obama personally signed it! Also, it is not for the "Top 100" kids, I think it is more in the thousands!

 

[moon]

Both of my dd's got something from the president at their grade school graduations. I just went to see if I could find them but I can't Anyway, there were for academic excellence or something. I don't recall anything about top 100, about 20 kids or more in their school alone got them.


Can I add I hate those braggy FB posts? I know sometimes you're just so proud of your kid that you can burst but I have some friends that list every report card grade. Ughh. Really?

I was thinking it most be something along these lines.

I mean, it is great, and congrats to your kids for getting them.... but getting one for being "in the top 100 in the US"? wow, it would take a something really extraordinary to achieve something like that

 

[Diegosmom]

President’s Education Awards
What is the award?
The purpose of the President’s Education Awards program is to recognize academic success in the classroom. The two categories of awards are the President’s Award for Educational Excellence (i.e. academic success) and the President’s Award for Educational Achievement (i.e. students that show outstanding educational growth, improvement, commitment or intellectual development in their academic subjects).

Recipients of awards each receive a letter from the president, a certificate and pin.
Who’s eligible for the President's Award for Educational Excellence?
To be eligible students must meet the requirements in BOTH of these categories:
Category 1: Grade Point Average
Students must have grade point average of 90 on a 100 point scale from grades 5 through the fall semester of the 8th grade.

Category 2: Standardized Achievement Test or Adult Recommendations - Achievement in the 85th percentile or higher in math or reading on the State test OR Recommendations from a teacher to reflect outstanding achievement such as English, mathematics, science, history, geography, art, foreign language, and any other courses that reflect a school's core curriculum.

Who’s eligible for the President's Award For Educational Achievement?
This award encourages and rewards students who work hard and give their best effort in school, often in the face of special obstacles to their learning. The criteria should reflect the purpose of the award and must be applied fairly to all students.
The following are examples of criteria for which the President's Award for Educational Achievement may be presented:

* Show tremendous growth but not meet all the criteria for the President's Award for Educational Excellence.
* Demonstrate unusual commitment to learning in academics despite various obstacles.
* Maintain a school record that would have met the school's selection criteria for the President's Award for Educational Excellence but illness, personal crisis, or special needs prevented the student from maintaining such high standards despite hard work.
* Achieve high scores or show outstanding growth, improvement, commitment or intellectual development in particular subjects, such as English, math, science, etc.
* Demonstrate achievement in the arts such as music or theater.

I dont see anything about only 100 students...maybe 100 at her school...and also there is 2 different awards. 1 for high grades and the other is on improvement...just picked by principal.

 

[mtomlin66]

No, it's supposed to be for academic achivement

It is called the Presidential Academic Fitness Award. My 5th and 8th grader each got it at their Move Up ceremonies this week. As others have said, it is nice for them to be recognized for their academic achievement but it is given throughout the country to top achieving children in each school.

 

[DisneyCher]

I got one of those eons ago.

I wonder how they would even determine who the "top 100" student nationwide, anyway. Different regions take different standardized tests, different schools & school districts teach differnet materials, and how to you break a thousand student tie for a perfect GPA?

 

[RitaE]

As the others have said -- it is not for the top 100 students in the US.

Because seriously, think about all those 12 year olds already enrolled in college. Don't you think they'd beat out all the mere mortals who merely have "good grades?"

 

[DipsyDoodles]

The Presidential Awards are given out to 6th graders in our state. Besides the students who receive them for excellent academic achievement a portion of them are given out to students that are on Individualized Education Plans (i.e., IEP's for students with specific learning disabilities). These students are awarded for showing advancement in their disability area. The certificates given out look exactly like the one a previous poster showed. All students awarded get the same certificate so as not to distinguish the children as being different. It's nice because "Sally" who has a specific learning disability in Math and has worked so hard this year and achieved so much will get the same Presidential Award as "Billy" who has always been an "A" student and works just as hard. I have never heard of a Presidential Award given to the top "100" students in the Nation.

 

[moon]

Both of my dd's got something from the president at their grade school graduations. I just went to see if I could find them but I can't Anyway, there were for academic excellence or something. I don't recall anything about top 100, about 20 kids or more in their school alone got them.


Can I add I hate those braggy FB posts? I know sometimes you're just so proud of your kid that you can burst but I have some friends that list every report card grade. Ughh. Really?

I was thinking it most be something along these lines.

I mean, it is great, and congrats to your kids for getting them.... but getting one for being "in the top 100 in the US"? wow, it would take a something really extraordinary to achieve something like that

 

[moon]

Thank you all for clarifying!

The DIS is really such a great place for information!

Sounds like this certificate is a nice thing to get, and something to be proud of. No need to add to it by making ridiculous claims. As someone said, the top 100 students wouldn't be wasting time in elementary school, they'd already be in college

I wonder if the child's mother told her this story, or if she's really confused....though mere common sense would dictate that it just doesn't work that way.

And this lady has a history of embelishing her stories " just a little"...

 

[ccgirl]

Why do we have to find fault in people's "bragging"? Perhaps she was mistaken. It wasn't like she lied. Her niece did receive the award. How about a congratulations rather than a let me find out if this is true. This seems to be a thing of late. Other people putting down parents when they want to say how proud they are of their children. My DD just received her report card yesterday. She got 2 A +'s and 4 A's. The A was her lowest grade. Another parent, who was rightfully proud of her DD, came over and said "Sally got 4 A's and 2 B's how did your DD do?" So, I told her. She then became upset and stormed away. A co worker of mine has a son a few years older than my DD. She asked how my DD did. I told her and she said, "those aren't real grades anyway." Really??? I told her they most certainly are. My DD works her butt off and consistently brings home 100's.

Why do people feel the need to minimize accomplishments?