Presidential Academic Fitness Awards

June 02, 2010

Receiving the Presidential Academic Fitness Award for scholastic achievement during their elementary school careers are 6th-graders Nick Fauss, Alex Schissel, Grayce McCormick, Todd Rains, and Nic Taylor.

Initiated by President Ronald Reagan in 1983, the Presidential Academic Fitness Award is modeled after the physical fitness program initiated by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966. The program promotes scholastic endeavors much as the physical fitness program promotes physical fitness and sports.

As President Reagan stated in his 1983 congratulatory letter to the first awardees, "As the first recipients of these awards, you should be especially proud of what you have achieved through hard work and dedication to the pursuit of learning.... Our great nation will grow with you as each of you achieves your full potential."

An award winner must have attained a B grade average, including the first semester of the exit grade level, and must have received a recent score placing the student at or above the 80th percentile on any nationally recognized standardized achievement test battery.

The elementary level exit grade at Logan View is grade 6. A B grade average is defined as 3.3 on a 4-point scale or 85 on a scale of 100. Logan View administers the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, or ITBS.

Students qualifying for these honors will receive certificates signed by President Barack Obama, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and Logan View Elementary Principal Dana Schultz.

The Presidential Academic Fitness Award program is sponsored by Time Magazine Education Program, Waldenbooks, Smithkline Beckman Corporation, U.S. Department Of Education.