Mountlake Terrace High School senior Haeley Johnston has been selected as one of five Washington Scholars in Career and Technical Education (CTE), part of a national program administered by the White House that honors top-performing high school students.

Johnston’s accolade was announced Monday by the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction in Olympia.

The state recognition is part of the Presidential Scholars Program established by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964 that has since honored 7,000 high school students. President Jimmy Carter expanded the program in 1979 to acknowledge exceptional students in the fields of literary, visual and performing arts; an Executive Order by President Barack Obama added the category of career and technical education just last July.

Johnston is now eligible to apply for the U.S. Presidential Scholars in CTE recognition, an honor to be selected in May.

“We are proud of Haeley’s continued accomplishments through Career and Technical Education and share our best wishes as the Presidential Scholars program advances,” said George Aszklar, the Washington State Director of Career and Technical Education.

The honor continues a string of accolades for Johnston; in 2015 she received the Dr. Bob Hanson Distinguished Student Award from the National Technology Student Association and was elected the State President of the Washington Technology Student Association for the 2015-2016 school year.

— By Doug Petrowski