Watchung Hills Student Wins Advanced Placement Scholarship

Jessica Xu, a member of Watchung Hills Regional High School’s Class of 2013, has been selected as one of the 2012 state winners of the Siemens Awards for Advanced Placement.

The Watchung resident is the recipient of the prestigious award, a $2,000 college scholarship, which is given annually to one male and one female in all 50 states.

“It is an outstanding accomplishment to be named a winner in your state,” Diane Tsukamaki,an official of the National Recognition & Scholarship Program, said in the release which congratulated Jessica.

The Siemens Awards for Advanced Placement exemplify the strong partnership between the Siemens Foundation and the College Board, sponsor of the Advanced Placement program, to expand the pool of math, science and technology talent that is  needed for the continued growth of business and industry in the United States and globally. The scholarship donors believe that the scholarship winners’ initiative to enroll and excel in Advanced Placement courses reflects their ability to “be one of the nation’s future leaders in math and science, and a role model for other students.”

In addition to having been named as a recipient of the prestigious Siemens  Award, Jessica’s previous achievements have been well documented: A National Merit Finalist, she is also an National Advanced Placement Scholar, having achieved 5s  in  all  nine AP Exams she had taken thus far. (A “5”  is the top grade.)

Last summer she attended the Governor’s School of the Sciences and was, as well,  one of 20 national finalists (out of an estimated 10,000 applicants) to compete in the U.S Chemistry Olympics held at the United States Air Force Academy.

She was inducted into the National Honor Society last fall and was also named to the National Art Honor Society.