Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Jesna Cornelius Earns Savings Bond At Show

Jesna Cornelius, a senior at Prescott High School, has received a $100 U.S. Savings Bond from TruServ Corporation and will go to state judging level.

Thousands of secondary schools across the country have selected their most outstanding vocational students to represent them as local winners in the Tools for Tomorrow All-American Vocational Student Awards program.

"Many business leaders are challenged by the lack of skilled workers in today's workforce, but they aren't taking action to solve the problem," Paul Pentz, president of TruServ, said.

"We believe the business community has as much responsibility as education and government to give students the tools they need to be competitive in today's job market. That's why we developed the Tools for Tomorrow program."

A panel of vocational experts will now convene in each of the 50 states to select the state winners. One winner will be chosen from hundreds of candidates in every state.

Each state winner will receive a $500 U.S. Savings Bond and advance to national judging.

Following the state judging round, the Tools for Tomorrow Advisory Board will meet in Washington, D.C., to select 10 national winners and 12 special merit honor students.

The leaders of 10 national vocational student organizations representing a wide range of vocational studies, including farming and agriculture, marketing, business and family science participate on this national judging panel.

National winners will each be awarded a $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond and an all- expense-paid trip in April to participate in an awards ceremony held in their honor at the TruServ spring market in Dallas, Texas.

Special merit honor students will receive a $500 U.S. Savings Bond.

National judging is the final step in a complex selection process that began in September 1997 when applications for the All-American Vocational Student Awards program were mailed to thousands of schools across the country. Each school selected one winner based on academic and vocational achievements, leadership skills and community involvement.

Since its inception six years ago, the All-American vocational Student Awards program has honored more than 12,000 of the nations best vocational students and presented them with mor than $1 million in U.S. Savings Bonds.

"These are the best and brightest vocational students in the country," said Pentz. "It is privilege to honor the outstanding abilities of these vocational students who often do not receive the recognition they deserve."