Nearly 700 fifth through eighth graders from around Washington have been honored for their outstanding verbal and/or mathematical abilities by the University of Washington.

The students' academic achievements were discovered through the Washington Search for Young Scholars operated by the UW's Halbert and Nancy Robinson Center for Young Scholars. Overall, 695 students from 246 schools in 90 cities and towns across the state won recognition. The students and their families were honored in a special recognition ceremony on the UW campus late last month. Paul LePore, the UW's assistant dean of educational programs for the College of Arts and Sciences, gave the keynote talk at the event.

To be eligible for the awards, fifth and sixth grade students had to score in the upper 3 percent in reading/verbal or math/quantitative sections on a recent standardized achievement or aptitude tests that compared them to students in Washington or nationally by grade levels. High scores, above 439 in reading or 467 in math on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL), also qualified these students. Seventh and eighth graders were required to take either the SAT I or ACT, college entrance tests, and score above the mean for college-bound high school students.

The Washington Search for Young Scholars is one of a growing number of programs operated by the Robinson Center to serve Washington's most academically talented students. The talent search was created to make parents and gifted children more aware of challenging academic programs at the UW and throughout Washington.

"Programs such as the Washington Search for Young Scholars help identify talented children so schools and communities can respond with the challenges they need to help them fulfill their promise and to keep these students fully engaged in their education," said Robert Vaughan, associate director of the search program and the Robinson Center.

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For more information, contact Vaughan at (206) 543-4160 or rvaughan@u.washington.edu