We have a presidential scholar...again

It hasn't happened since 1969.

No, it's not 1986 and we're not talking about whether the Mets will win the World Series. It's something much more important.

This is about Kootenai County students hitting academic home runs, way out of the North Idaho ballpark, all the way to Washington, D.C.

Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy student, Katherine Waltar of Post Falls, is among 141 high school seniors nationwide to be named a 2012 U.S. Presidential Scholar.

Each year, a White House Commission appointed by the president selects two Presidential Scholars from each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and from U.S. families living abroad,

Last year, another Kootenai County resident, Nick Induni of Hayden, a Coeur d'Alene High School graduate, was one of Idaho's scholars.

Since the program commenced in 1964, Waltar is the sixth Kootenai County resident to receive the honor.

It's the first time since 1969-70 that two county residents have been named consecutively. Jennie Orr, of Coeur d'Alene High School, was a 1969 scholar and Maria Fiala, an Athol resident who attended Lakeland High School, received the honor in 1970.

The other previous scholars include Bruce Reed, CHS, 1978 and Tamara Felton, Post Falls High School, 1989.

“Honoring Presidential Scholars is an important celebration of students showing the dedication, creativity and ambition to become future leaders,” Duncan said, in a prepared statement announcing Waltar's award. “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.”

The scholars are selected based on their academic success, artistic excellence, essays, school evaluations and transcripts, as well as evidence of community service, leadership, and demonstrated commitment to high ideals. Of the three million students expected to graduate from high school this year, more than 3,300 candidates qualified for the 2012 awards determined by outstanding performance on the College Board SAT and ACT exams, and through nominations made by Chief State School Officers or the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts.

Waltar is invited to travel in June to Washington, D.C. to be honored at the White House with her fellow scholars.

It's been a good month for Waltar.

Last week, she won a 2012 Ford Fiesta Tom Addis, owner of Lake City Ford, through a program that has been honoring the area's top students for the past 13 years.

Each year, the top 10 percent of students from area schools are entered into a drawing, with one student receiving a brand-new vehicle.

Waltar plans to attend Whitworth University in Spokane after graduation.