THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 4, 1995 TAG: 9506040082
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
Dozens of political, corporate and Hollywood powerhouses are in town this weekend for a conference honoring some of the country's top high school seniors.
Shortly after former President George Bush held a question-and-answer session Friday, actor Tom Selleck, former FBI director William S. Sessions, novelist Tom Clancy and Viacom Inc. CEO Frank J. Biondi Jr. - to name a few - milled about a hotel lobby during a break in the conference.
All were brought together by the American Academy of Achievement, which honors several hundred high school seniors each year and sponsors them on a trip to meet informally with celebrities and role models.
``It's a private event, and a chance for them to meet as intimately as possible with the sponsors,'' said Wayne R. Reynolds, executive director for the Los Angeles-based American Academy of Achievement. About 75 national business and political figures are expected to attend all or part of the academy conference through Sunday morning, Reynolds said.
The event obviously is to honor the students, but with the likes of Tom Selleck standing around, everyone's attention was obviously diverted.
``We're not the ones getting the attention,'' said 17-year-old Nathan Oostendorp of Zeeland, Mich. None of the students applied for the honor; all were either nominated by their school districts or through the National Association of Secondary School Principals, or they unknowingly became eligible by winning other scholarship competitions and then were invited to attend - all expenses paid, Reynolds said.
The weekend ``Salute to Excellence'' schedule featured a ``conversation'' with Bush on Friday in which he shed his jacket and urged the youths to become one of his ``thousand points of light'' and serve others.
``This is my first exposure to an audience this bright,'' Bush said. ``True, I've spoken to the U.S. Congress.'' by CNB