12 Ottawa High School students earn College Board National Recognition

Twelve students at Ottawa High School earned academic honors from the College Board National Recognition Programs.

These programs celebrate students’ hard work in high school and showcase their strong academic performance. The academic honors for rural area, Black, Indigenous and/or Latino students are an opportunity for students to share their academic achievements with colleges and scholarship programs that are seeking to recruit diverse talent.

The following 12 senior students have been earned the National Rural and Small-Town Award: Peyton Bryson, Maggy Buscher, Evelyn Clayton, Emma Cushing, Ava Laury, Isabelle Liebhart, Alyssa Malmassari, Brent McLaughlin, Elijah Munson, Christina Snook, Matthew Towne and Sullivan Walker. Additionally, Towne was awarded the National Hispanic Recognition Award.

The criteria for eligible students include: GPA of 3.5 or higher; PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10 assessment scores that are within the top 10% of assessment takers in each state for each award program or earned a score of 3 or higher on 2 or more AP Exams in ninth and 10th grade; attend school in a rural area or small town, or identify as African American/Black, Hispanic American/Latino or Indigenous/Native.

Eligible students are invited to apply on BigFuture during their sophomore or junior year and are awarded at the start of the next school year in time to share their achievements in high school as they plan for the future. At the same time, colleges and organizations using College Board’s Student Search Service can connect directly with awardees during the recruitment process.

“It’s becoming increasingly hard for students to be ‘seen’ during the college recruitment process,” said Tarlin Ray, senior vice president of BigFuture at College Board. “This is a benefit not only for students but also for colleges and universities committed to recruiting diverse and talented students.”