LAURINBURG — Across all of North Carolina’s 115 school districts, there are only a mere five students named as a North Carolina CTE Scholar — and Scotland County has one of them.
Scotland High School senior Andrew Hartwell was recognized Monday at the Scotland County Board of Education meeting for being named one of the state’s top scholars. He is the son of Joel and Susan Hartwell, works at the Genius Bar at the high school, is a certified drone pilot, a member of the robotics team and is a founding member of the Scots Flying Drones.
“Although you might not have seen Andrew in person, you’ve seen some of his handiwork,” Scotland County Schools Public Information Officer Meredith Bounds told the board. “When we show the footage of the new school, a lot of that has been taken by Andrew.”
To be a CTE scholar, students are initially selected based on their accomplishments in career and technical education fields. Students are nominated through their chief state school officer, who can nominate up to five candidates who meet the U.S. Presidential Scholars candidacy requirements. Candidacy materials are mailed to the selected students, and they are invited to apply to the program.
Applicants submit essays, self-assessments, school reports and transcripts. Then they are evaluated on their academic achievement, personal characteristics, leadership, service activities and analysis of their essay.
“As you can tell, this is highly competitive,” Bounds said. “Out of 115 districts, out of I don’t even know how many students but we’re glad he’s one of our and we’re proud of his accomplishments.”
On Monday, Hartwell was presented a framed certificate by Scotland County Schools Superintendent Ron Hargrave and School Board Vice Chairman Carolyn Banks.
Reach Katelin Gandee at 910-506-3171 or at kgandee@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com
