THIS IS A PRESS RELEASE FROM THE OFFICE OF UNITED STATES SENATOR ROBERT BYRD.

CHARLESTON, W.Va.... U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., has presented area students with his Scholastic Recognition Award for their outstanding high school classroom achievements.

"The academic accomplishments of these young students make me very proud. They have earned these scholarships through hard work and determination, and I hope this recognition helps keep them on a lifetime path of learning," Byrd said. "Growing up in the coalfields in Southern West Virginia, my parents instilled in me a passion for learning that still burns inside me today, even at the age of 90. I would hope to inspire in some way a similar enthusiasm in others. A lifelong thirst for knowledge pays lifelong dividends.”

Statewide, 168 students will receive the Byrd award. The Robert C. Byrd Scholastic Recognition Award program annually confers a $50 U.S. Savings Bond upon each valedictorian of the graduating classes of West Virginia’s public, parochial, and private high schools, and the Schools for the Deaf and Blind at Romney. Started in 1969, Byrd has awarded 10,339 West Virginia students more than $240,000 from the private trust fund that he established.

"I congratulate this year’s recipients,” Byrd said, “and encourage them to continue their pursuit of excellence."