I am aware of the Presidents Educational Award and know it is a good thing to get this award, but it definitely is not exclusive. The criteria to get the award are pretty good (like 3.5 GPA, School sets level of 90% or higher etc along with other qualitative reqs) but not too competative, this is why many students get the award. Hence, lato is right it is strange how this news is published in many news outlets.

But then I thought there is nothing stated in the news that is a lie. Perception might be a different thing and when readers see the name "President's award" they might think the accomplishment was so high that even the president acknowledged it exclusively. THat's perception and you cannot blame anybody for it. So, as long as it keeps the parents proud and the kid on right path, this is a good thing. I guess.