Marshall Student Is Presidential Scholar

John T. Oshita, a senior at John Marshall High School and an accomplished cellist, has been named one of this year’s 140 Presidential Scholars nationwide, U.S. Secretary of Education William J. Bennett announced.

The 17-year-old Silver Lake resident was honored for his musicianship, along with his 3.95 grade point average. He was one of five Presidential Scholars from California chosen earlier this week.

Oshita and the other Presidential Scholars are invited to receive medallions at a White House ceremony next month, and Oshita is scheduled to perform at a concert at the Kennedy Center. The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, a philanthropic organization based in New Jersey, awards each winner a $1,000 scholarship.

Oshita said he plans to attend the New England Conservatory of Music next year. He was also accepted at Yale University, but deferred enrollment there for a year. Oshita, who began playing the cello when he was 4, said his goal is to become a concert cellist, either solo or in a chamber group.

The Presidential Scholars program was founded 23 years ago as the nation’s highest honor for high school students, Bennett said. A commission chooses a young man and a young woman from each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and American families living abroad, plus 15 students at large. Nineteen more, including Oshita, are chosen for accomplishments in the arts.