Press release:

Aviation High School senior Jenny Gao is one of two Washington students selected this year for the United States Senate Youth program. Each year this extremely competitive merit-based program selects 104 of the most outstanding high school students from across the country.

Jenny will travel to the nation’s capital in March for an intensive weeklong study of the federal government and the people who lead it. Student delegates will attend meetings and briefings with President Obama, senators and congressional staff, a justice of the Supreme Court, leaders of cabinet agencies, an ambassador to the United States and top members of the national media. The students will also tour many of the national monuments and several museums.

The US Senate Youth Program aims to inspire outstanding young people to make a lifelong commitment to public service. Each of the student delegates will receive a $5,000 college scholarship from The Hearst Foundations and will be encouraged to pursue studies in government, history and public affairs.

Jenny is a 4.0 student and National Merit semi-finalist who is enrolled in an AP-rich class schedule. She serves as student body president, participates in the Science Olympiad, speech and debate, and is the mathematician for her team designing an airplane in the Real World Design Challenge. She also tutors younger students and plays the violin in the Renton Youth Symphony Orchestra. She was one of 40 young women nationally to participate in summer residency at the Johnson Space Center.

Jenny is the first Aviation High School student to be selected for the US Senate Youth Program. “We are immensely proud of her,” says Aviation High School Principal Reba Gilman. “Everyone in our school community applauds her commitment to excellence in all her endeavors. She will be an outstanding contributor as a delegate to this prestigious program.”