Rachel Ainslie, a seventh grader at Evergreen Junior High School, has been invited to attend the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth’s (CTY) Grand Ceremony 2008 in honor of her outstanding achievement in the 2008 CTY Talent Search.

The ceremony takes place Sunday, June 15 at the university’s campus in Baltimore. Because travel expenses are not paid, Ainslie will not attend he ceremony but will receive a medal and program in the mail, after the event.

Each year CTY hosts the ceremony to recognize students in the 19-state region who meet the Grand level qualifying score criteria. Through the talent search, high-performing students take a test designed for older students. Children in grades 7 and 8 are nominated by educators based on criteria such as achievement at the 95th percentile or higher on one or more areas of a nationally normed standardized test; achievement at advanced levels on state tests, designated as scoring in categories such as advanced proficiency, distinguished, honors or gifted; or other demonstration of superior academic performance.

For information about the CTY Talent Search, visit http://cty.jhu.edu/ts/grades78.html.