Randy Jokela of Thousand Oaks will be a President's Scholar with the incoming Class of 2006 at California State University, Long Beach. As part of the program, the graduated senior from Thousand Oaks High School has received a four-year scholarship from the university worth about $35,000.

Established in 1995, the President's Scholars Program is

recognized as the premier program of its kind in the state. It was created to bring valedictorians and National Merit scholars from California high schools to Cal State Long Beach.

Jokela, a National Merit scholar in the Class of 2006 at Thousand Oaks High, was selected for the program from an applicant pool of more than 600 students statewide.

He will be among 50 new President's Scholars joining the university when classes begin on Aug. 28, bringing the total number of high school valedictorians and National Merit Scholars attending the university to about 350.

The son of Debra Kermath of Thousand Oaks, Jokela is planning to major in aerospace engineering at Cal State Long Beach.