HHS senior to be honored in D.C.
By: Michael Arges
Heather Kulik of Hightstown High School is one of three high school seniors in New Jersey and 141 students nationwide named a Presidential Scholar based on her academic achievement and community service.
As a Presidential Scholar, Heather will be hosted by the Presidential Scholars Commission in Washington for a week of events highlighted by her receiving the Presidential Medallion from President Clinton. She will be joined in Washington June 26-July 2 by Linda Zalewitz, whom she named in her Presidential Scholars application as the teacher who has most influenced her.
Ms. Zalewitz, now a third-grade teacher at Grace N. Rogers School, taught Heather in both second and fifth grade at the Ethel McKnight School. Heather is the second Presidential Scholar from Hightstown High School in the past three years. Jennifer Clark, now a student at Harvard University, won the award two years ago.
President Lyndon Johnson established the Presidential Scholars Program in 1964. The selection process for Presidential Scholars begins when 26,000 students are invited to apply based on their high Scholastic Assessment Test scores. The selection of semifinalists, finalists and Presidential Scholars is made by the Commission on Presidential Scholars, along with the U.S. Department of Education.
An outstanding young mathematician, Heather had completed all of the math courses available at Hightstown High by the end of her sophomore year. She took one math course at Mercer County Community College and since then has been taking regular college courses at Princeton University: multivariable calculus, linear algebra and chemistry.
Heather also is valedictorian of Hightstown High School and scored an almost perfect score of 1590 on the Scholastic Assessment Test. Her selection as Presidential Scholar was based on scholastic achievement, leadership ability, community service, strong character and commitment to high ideals.
“When I was younger I always liked to do math problems in my head whenever I was bored, whenever my mom tried to make me take a nap, or I had nothing to do at the time,” Heather recalled.
Heather has received a full scholarship to attend Cooper Union in New York, where she plans to prepare for a career in chemical engineering. She also has received a New Jersey Elks scholarship, a National Elks scholarship, a scholarship from the Engineers Club of Trenton, and a Comcast scholarship.
During their stay in Washington, Heather and Ms. Zalewitz will visit the White House for the medallion ceremony and attend a Teacher Recognition Luncheon, where teachers receive a plaque and students talk about how their special teachers contributed to their achievements. Scholars and teachers also will attend a concert by students at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Ms. Zalewitz recalled: “Heather had an outstanding mathematical intelligence as a very young child, and she was the kind of child who needed to be challenged. It was quite evident very early on … I designed a program that would challenge her and help her build confidence as a mathematician and as a person.”
Some aspects of this special program included involving Heather both as a second-grader and as a fifth-grader in the Math Olympiad, a mathematics contest featuring “very challenging problem solving” and which is normally reserved for grades four and five.
One year, Heather starred as a “mathemagician” for a play as part of Math Focus Days at Ethel McKnight School. For the play Heather wore a magician’s hat and cape and did a skit on geometry.
“She is an amazing individual,” Ms. Zalewitz said. “She’s truly gifted mathematically and I think she’s really enjoyed that, and that has become who she is, and she’s doing wonderful things with it.”
Heather said Ms. Zalewitz “really motivated me to excel in mathematics, and she encouraged me to do whatever it took to satisfy my thirst for knowledge.”
Heather especially appreciates the way Ms. Zalewitz was able to provide her with individual attention when there were so many other teaching demands. During the summer after fifth grade, Heather participated in the Center for Talented Youth, part of the Gifted and Talented Program sponsored by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. This program is designed to identify and encourage the talent of young mathematicians.
Last summer, Heather was one of 90 students selected to attend the New Jersey Governor’s School in the sciences. This year she was named by The Trenton Times as the outstanding mathematician in its circulation area. Heather also shares her talent with others.
“Heather enjoys tutoring others and has tutored for hundreds of hours on America Online,” said her mother, Randi Kulik. AOL provides a program in which “virtual volunteers” sign up to serve as tutors in various subjects.
In addition, Heather has tutored students in her neighborhood, and, as a member of the Red Cross club, she helped organize a Thanksgiving food drive and made cards and small gifts to distribute to local nursing home patients.
Heather has been secretary of the Math League, and a member of the German Club and the National Honor Society. She published poetry in Aspirations, a poetry journal sponsored by Mercer County Community College. In her free time she likes creative writing and working on Web-site design.