• Renton High School student Athena Laoang has been selected from a competitive pool of applicants for a judicial internship with the Future of the Law Institute, a year-long program for high school students interested in learning more about a career in law. Laoang will attend legal workshops, career counseling, and participate in a mock trial and courthouse tour, and have an opportunity to meet with legal professionals. She will also be matched with an attorney, judge or law student mentor for the school year.

• Graduates from Renton high schools were awarded nearly $4 million in scholarships to colleges and universities throughout the United States. Nearly 475 graduates said they planned to attend a college or university; 35 said they were entering the workforce; 11 enlisted in the military; and others were entering apprenticeship programs.

• More than 30 district teachers are participating in summer professional development classes to better their science-teaching skills at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle. The training is made possible thanks to a five-year $721,000 K-12 Science Education grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Randy Matheson, Renton School District