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Palmetto Senior High School Senior Michael Glickman
and Junior Rene Shen were honored recently by the Siemens Foundation,
both students winning coveted Siemens Scholarship Awards for Advanced
Placement.
Pictured (left) Michael Glickman and (Right) Rene Shen
Only 24 students were chosen from six regions across
the United States -- half of them male and half female, half seniors
and half juniors -- and Glickman and Shen were selected as the male
representatives for the entire southern region of the country. Each
was awarded a $3,000 scholarship.
Glickman also was named male National Scholarship Winner for the
entire United States, an honor that earned him an additional $5,000
scholarship.
"Obviously this is a testament to the hard work
and dedication of Rene and Michael, but also to our outstanding
faculty and staff here at Palmetto who helped put them in a position
to be successful," said Palmetto Senior High Principal Janet Hupp.
Placing two winners in the Siemans scholarship awards
was widely regarded as a tremendous honor for Palmetto Senior High, as
only one other school in the country had at least two regional
winners.
The Siemens Foundation Awards for Advanced Placement
winners are selected on the basis of a student's scores on the AP
Biology, Calculus BC, Chemistry, Computer Science AB, Environmental
Science, Physics C Electricity and Magnetism, Physics C Mechanics and
Statistics. The winning students have the highest cumulative scores on
the greatest number of AP exams taken in the fields.
"One goal is to, in conjunction with the College Board, see more
Advanced Placement programs in schools every year," said Siemens
spokesperson Esra Ozer. "Programs like ours help to facilitate
the spread of those courses. But,
most importantly, we'd like to help these outstanding students further their
education."
Both Glickman and Shen hail from homes that emphasize the importance of
education. Shen resides with his parents and his mother chairs the Civil and
Environmental Engineering Department at Florida International University.
Shen's sister Pamela is a student at Palmetto Middle School. Glickman's
mother is a former elementary school teacher, while his father is an
attorney. His brother, David, is a junior at Harvard and sister, Laura,
attends Palmetto Senior High School.
Each student reacted differently to the announcement of the Siemans Awards.
Shen, who described himself as "kind of hyper," said he was,
"jumping up and down when I heard the news."
Meantime, the laid back Glickman was a little more restrained saying the
announcement came as "a real pleasant surprise."
Both students attributed their success to the outstanding education they
received at Palmetto Senior High.
"We have a lot of great teachers at Palmetto," said Shen.
"I'd hate to single any one out, because they were all important."
Glickman wholeheartedly agreed.
"My teachers have been fantastic," he said. "I've had a lot
of challenging courses at Palmetto and we were probably so successful
because of them."
Each of the young scholars is deeply involved in extracurricular activities
at school. Shen was a member of Palmetto's cross country team and is
district treasurer for Key Club, treasurer for the Junior Engineering
Technical Society (JETS) and a member of numerous honor societies and clubs.
Glickman is the president of JETS, a member of several honor societies and a
volunteer at the Coral Reef Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center.
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