Andrew Kamichoff, left, with scout executive Dennis Kohl receiving national youth leadership society award, only the second Kohl has awarded in his tenure as scout executive.
CLARK, NJ — The first student from Arthur L. Johnson High School in Clark has been selected as a finalist for the U.S. Presidential Scholar Program. Each year, a total of 161 students from across the country are inducted in the program to receive recognition for their outstanding achievements in areas such as career and technical training, visual and performing arts and creative writing.
Each year more than 4,000 candidates are identified based on academic achievement and scores on the SAT or ACT. Approximately 20 students will be selected from the visual arts field and another 20 from the career and technical training fields. Andrew Kamichoff, of Clark, has been nominated for his performance in the career and technical training fields. He is the first student from the Clark school district to make it past the state level reviews.
Kamichoff has been recognized as the only student from his school as a National Merit scholar based on his PSAT scores during his junior year. He is the recipient of several awards such as the Scout Scholar Athlete Award. He became an Eagle Scout at 13 with nine Eagle Palms, which included more than 45 additional merit badges. He is the first and only scout in New Jersey to receive an Outdoor Medal of Achievement. He’s one of 56 in the country to receive the award.
“Andrew is very humble,” said his mother, Martha Kamichoff. “He rarely mentions any of his accomplishments. He is proud to have an impact for his school district.”
Andrew said he was very excited by the news of his nomination.
“My initial reaction to be nominated for the program was two-fold because I heard of my presidential nomination by the school and national merit on the same day,” said Kamichoff.
Kamichoff is a member of Arthur L. Johnson’s varsity bowling team. He’s been a four year gold letter winner for the team. He is also the vice president of the Youth Executive Committee of Patriots Path Council, specializing in community service. He’s a member of the science league team, currently the physics II league team. Science is a subject in which he has excelled greatly, especially during his freshman year. He received a perfect score on the freshman state biology exam. After graduation, Kamichoff plans to attend college to study mechanical and aeronautical engineering. He hopes to attend Rowan University or Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
“Andrew’s mind is always thinking,” said Martha Kamichoff. “He has researched and built his own computer gaming system and plays and communicates with people from all over the world daily. His sites in the science league testing speak for themselves.”
In addition to his achievements in other areas, Kamichoff also demonstrates outstanding leadership ability. He received a National Youth Leadership Society Award and a Patriots Path Council Leadership Award. He’s also a Leadership Excellence Direct Results alumni.
Kamichoff was required to submit a series of essays along with his resume and school transcripts for the program. If selected as one of the scholars, Kamichoff will join the other 161 scholars for a trip to Washington, D.C. this June. He will find out during the end of May if he has been selected for the program.