Burlington Technical Center and Burlington High School are proud to recognize four students for being awarded as Vermont Presidential Scholars. All four students attend classes at BTC, and two of the students call BHS home. The award is a statewide recognition of academic, service, and leadership excellence.
The students attended the School Board meeting on December 8th, where they were recognized by their teachers, the Board, Superintendent Flanagan, and other school leaders and administrators. Congratulations to our awardees!
Patient Mwibeleca (Burlington High School), 2020 Vermont Presidential Scholar for the Arts. His teacher, Jason Raymond, spoke glowingly of Patient’s growing passion for digital media and photography, which stemmed from his original passion for producing music with his family in his home country in Africa.
Samira Hennigue (Burlington High School), 2020 Vermont Presidential Scholar for the Arts. Ashley Stagner, one of Sami’s teachers, told the Board that this talented painting and artist is not only skilled at her craft, but incredibly hard working both in school and beyond, holding down a full time job and also taking college level classes.
Penny Ly (Winooski HS), 2020 Vermont Presidential Scholar in Career and Technical Education. Betty McLane, one of Penny’s teachers, called her a born leader who in addition to her academic achievements also helped found the Winooski Students for Anti-Racism and is very active in her community.
Julia Correll (Colchester High School), 2020 Vermont Presidential Scholar in Career and Technical Education. Teacher Stacey Ladd congratulated Julia on her accomplishment, noting that she is already using her skills in her community both as a student representative for the Colchester School Board and as a volunteer for Colchester Rescue.
Krystof Bristol (Essex High School) was also recognized as a Vermont Presidential Scholar Honorable Mention.
It is notable that Patient and Samira are two of the only 5 Presidential Scholars for the Arts statewide.
Jason Gingold, Director of Burlington Technical Center, said of the students, “Burlington Technical Center is honored and proud of our students for being recognized as Presidential Scholars in 2020-21. The recipients have demonstrated a tremendous amount of leadership, dedication to their education, and commitment to being lifelong learners in their fields. We look forward to their further exploration and outcomes after high school.”
Vermont Presidential Scholars will be invited by the U.S. Department of Education to apply for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program, which recognizes some of the country’s most distinguished high school seniors. Each year, up to 161 students are named as Presidential Scholars, one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students.
Presidential Scholar Penny Ly 
Presidential Scholar Samira Henninge 
Presidential Scholar Patient Mwibeleca 
Presidential Scholar Julia Correll
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