People around the U.S. are getting a chance to realize what
Bradford’s known for quite a while – Matthew Russell is one class
act.

Russell, a senior at Bradford Area High School, is a candidate
for the 2006 Presidential Scholars Program, an elite group of
graduating seniors from around the country.

“You have to be invited to apply for it,” explained Russell,
whose perfect SAT score of 1600 was one reason he received an
invitation.

Scholars are selected on the basis of “superior academic and
artistic achievements, leadership qualities, strong character and
involvement in community and school activities,” according to
information provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

The winners go to Washington, D.C., in the summer for a ceremony
at the White House, among other activities.

In the end, one boy and one girl from every state is picked;
there are 121 students total. The finalists will be notified later
this Spring. But to be invited to apply for the program is an honor
in and of itself.

To get to this point, Russell and his guidance counselor, Steve
Mongillo had to fill out an extensive 15-page application. Mongillo
said the application took longer than the 16 hours projected.

For a student from this area to get to this level is “pretty
unique,” Mongillo said.

One part of the application was essay writing, including one on
what teacher influenced him the most.

Russell said it was hard to narrow down to one person – he had
four in mind – but he eventually decided on Yvonne Shafer, his
chemistry teacher.

“She does a really good job at getting students involved in a
subject,” he said. “After having her, I’m a lot more interested in
chemistry.”

Russell explained Shafer talks about the “real world. She talks
about past experiences on previous jobs.”

“She also seems like she interested in the students … seems to
really care about us,” Russell said. One instance Russell shared
was when Shafer started a drive to collect money for a student at
Floyd C. Fretz Middle School who got sick.

“She didn’t know the girl,” Russell said, adding the teacher
leads by example.

Russell seems to have taken Shafer’s example to heart, becoming
a “big brother” to younger students.

For about the last four years, he has helped in Jill
Cottillion’s fourth-grade class at School Street Elementary
School.

“Originally and still at the beginning of the year, he would
come in once a week for geography activities to strengthen my
students’ skills in a fun way,” Cottillion said. ” … they loved
it.”

Russell, an expert in geography at a young age, came in second
place in the National Geographic Geography Bee.

Since January, Russell’s been teaching the students chess, one
of his passions that he picked up with he was 6 years old.

“I see that always being a part of my life.”

Now, he shares that excitement with others.

“These are great strategies and thinking skills that all of my
students seem to enjoy,” Cottillion said. “He is kind hearted with
the students and seems to enjoy seeing them learn.”

Russell has also taught an SAT course at night with his mother,
Jan, who is a teacher with the Bradford Area School District. His
father, Jim, is a certified public accountant.

Matthew Russell focuses on the math portion, while his mother
tackles the other subjects.

The classes are “going fine,” he said simply. “… it’s a
job.”

In addition to a perfect SAT score, Russell received a perfect
score of 800 on the SAT writing test as well as on SAT II or
Subject Tests he took in U.S. history and Math IIC.

He said the history test came shortly after his Advanced
Placement history test so he “didn’t do any special studying” for
that one.

High school students take AP classes for college credit. Russell
took three – in addition to history, he took statistics and CalcBC.
Once again, Russell scored a perfect “five” on those tests.

Between college classes and AP classes, Russell already has
several college credits, including 32 at the University of
Pittsburgh at Bradford. It depends on what college Russell attends
and what credits they accept, Mongillo said, adding “Who wouldn’t
want Matt as a student in their university?”

Russell, who could be a second semester sophomore before even
enrolling full time, plans on majoring in math at Taylor
University.

“I just know I like math,” Russell said, shrugging his
shoulders. “I don’t know, it is just fun … something to do … it was
always going to be math.”

He especially likes the chaos theory.

“It’s something new in math,” he said, adding the theory is only
40 years old.

Recently, Russell was named the winner of the Annalee Henderson
Outstanding Achievement Award, given by the Pennsylvania Council of
Teachers of Mathematics.

He was nominated by Diane Meier, a high school math teacher, and
Cindy Murphy, a math teacher at Fretz.

“Quite an impressive young man,” said Joanne Kinsey, PCTM awards
chairwoman.

He will receive a plaque and $1,000.

Of all the colleges he could attend, Russell picked Taylor
because “I just really liked being out there.”

Russell said he became familiar with it after attending a
three-week seminar at the Upland, Ind., college.

“The people wanted me to go there; God wanted me to go
there.”

While at Bradford High, Russell also serves as president of the
student council and is captain of the Scholastic Scrimmage
team.

“He’s worked in so many (areas), I can’t even fathom,” Mongillo
said.