Three Fairfax County Public Schools students were on hand when Cisco Systems was presented the 2003 Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership at a White House ceremony on Tuesday, Sept. 30. The students are studying to become Cisco certified networking associates as part of the Network Design and Engineering course at Chantilly Academy, and Cisco Systems invited them to attend the ceremony.
Seniors Ciera Wallace and Elise Sachs, both students at Chantilly High School, and Maximillian Echstein, a student at Robinson Secondary School, attended the White House ceremony. Accompanying the students were Chantilly Academy Administrator John Wittmann Jr. and teacher Rob Mullins. Cisco Systems was honored for its Cisco Networking Academy program; the company invited the students to the awards ceremony because of their participation in the Academy program.
The Ron Brown Award, sponsored by the Conference Board, was presented by Secretary of Commerce Donald L. Evans. It is the only presidential award to honor companies for the exemplary quality of their relationships with employees and the community.