Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

19 Clark County students in running for prestigious academic honor

Nineteen Clark County School District students were named candidates for one of the highest academic honors programs in the nation.

The Las Vegas high school seniors are among more than 3,000 students who have been invited to apply to the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program this year.

Former President Lyndon Johnson established the recognition program in 1964 to highlight and honor some of the most distinguished high school students from across the country.

Application to the program is by invitation only. Candidates were chosen based on their scores on the SAT or ACT college entrance exams.

By April, a national committee will narrow the candidate list down to no more than 141 finalists. Their decisions will be based on students’ accomplishments in the classroom and extracurricular activities as well as their leadership on campus and in their communities.

In June, the finalists will be invited to travel to Washington, D.C., where they will be honored with a presidential scholars medallion during a ceremony at the White House. Last year, three Clark County high school students were named finalists.

Here are the names of the 19 Clark County candidates who were invited to apply this year:

• Zev Katz, Advanced Technologies Academy

• Mateusz Podzorski, Advanced Technologies Academy

• Mitchell Anderson, Bonanza High School

• Lindsey Madsen, Centennial High School

• Michael Kwok, Clark High School

• Evan Merrill, Clark High School

• Zachary Shattler, Clark High School

• Frank Wan, Clark High School

• Tyler Steidl, College of Southern Nevada High School

• Nicholas Manasewitsch, Coronado High School

• Noah Yaffe, Green Valley High School

• Jessica Woody, Las Vegas Academy

• Will Cleland, Palo Verde High School

• Alexa Rozario, Palo Verde High School

• Rochelle Shih, Palo Verde High School

• Emily Tran, Rancho High School

• Soraya Peron, Valley High School

• Christian Szczepanski, Valley High School

• Jonathan Ta, Valley High School

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