QCHS senior a Presidential Scholars semifinalist

Raymond Slifer, a senior at Quakertown Community High School and Upper Bucks County Technical School, has been named a Career and Technical Education semi­fi­nal­ist can­di­date in the 2021 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program.

He is the only stu­dent in Pennsylvania to achieve the program’s CTE des­ig­na­tion and one of only 56 nation­wide.

“I couldn’t be more proud for Raymond to achieve this very rare and extra­or­di­nary hon­or,” QCHS Principal Mattias van’t Hoenderdaal said. “This accom­plish­ment didn’t hap­pen by acci­dent. He has worked very hard and this is a tes­ta­ment to his effort. He is a fine exam­ple for our stu­dents to fol­low and he is cer­tain to have won­der­ful oppor­tu­ni­ties in the future.”

Raymond said “it’s just an amaz­ing feel­ing” to be in such select com­pa­ny.

The White House Commission on Presidential Scholars selects schol­ars annu­al­ly based on their aca­d­e­m­ic suc­cess, artis­tic and tech­ni­cal excel­lence, essays, school eval­u­a­tions, and tran­scripts, as well as evi­dence of com­mu­ni­ty ser­vice, lead­er­ship, and demon­strat­ed com­mit­ment to high ideals. Their Chief State School Officers nom­i­nat­ed the Career and Technical Education can­di­dates based on their career and tech­ni­cal edu­ca­tion accom­plish­ments.

The Scholars Program was estab­lished in 1964, by exec­u­tive order of the President, to rec­og­nize and hon­or some of our nation’s most dis­tin­guished grad­u­at­ing high school seniors. In 1979, the pro­gram was extend­ed to rec­og­nize stu­dents who demon­strate excep­tion­al tal­ent in the visu­al, cre­ative and per­form­ing arts. In 2015, the pro­gram was again extend­ed to rec­og­nize stu­dents who demon­strate abil­i­ty and accom­plish­ment in career and tech­ni­cal edu­ca­tion fields. That’s where Raymond excels. He is the first UBCTS Presidential Scholar can­di­date.

A Machining Technologies stu­dent, Raymond is a Cooperative Education stu­dent trainee employed by Bracalente Manufacturing Group in Trumbauersville. He is a tool room tech­ni­cian and has received all excel­lent eval­u­a­tions from his employ­er He has also excelled in the Machining Technologies Program, earn­ing the OSHA 10 Safety Certification and sev­er­al National Institute of Metal Working Skills Certifications. He was named a mem­ber of the National Technical Honor Society and has com­pet­ed and placed at SkillsUSA machin­ing com­pe­ti­tions at the dis­trict and state lev­els.

Raymond, an Eagle Scout, is a junior fire­fight­er with the Richlandtown Fire Co. He is enrolled in the UBCTS/Bucks County Community College Technical Entrepreneurship Program and will seek his associate’s degree upon grad­u­a­tion. He will then trans­fer to Pennsylvania College of Technology and major in Manufacturing Engineering.

“We are very proud of Raymond’s accom­plish­ments,” said Michael Herrera, Assistant Director at UBCTS. “His aca­d­e­m­ic suc­cess, com­mu­ni­ty ser­vice, tech­ni­cal abil­i­ties, strong work eth­ic, and com­mit­ment to excel­lence are with­out peer. Raymond embod­ies the val­ue of receiv­ing a Career and Technical Education.”

Raymond is the son of Rachel and Ronald Slifer of Quakertown.