Jansen wins the George Washington University Book Award

Today Needham High School recognized 25 of its top scholars and student leaders with what it calls the Junior Awards -- distinctions designed to launch them into the college acceptance process. These awards are presented by distinguished universities like Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Princeton, on down to others that are regionally important (Boston University and Regis College) as well as some specialized schools like Rochester Institute of Technology.

Jansen was notified he should be present but was not told what award -- if any -- he would receive. About 50 students and many of their parents came. Half of them received named awards, the other half received certificates of excellence from the high school. We were hopeful he would receive a named award and very pleased when he did. You can watch the attached video -- though the audio's bad -- to see him called up for his award.

This is something new to us, we've never heard of these awards but were pleased that Jansen and several of his friends were honored (one of his friends won the Dartmouth award). We're very proud. The teacher who announced the awards made a comment that one of things he liked most about these awards is that they were not applied for: the kids earned them by being who they really are for the past three years. Congratulations, Jansen.