Southeast Utah Sterling Scholar Press Letter
Grand County High School will host the annual Southeastern Utah Sterling Scholar competition on March 10th, 2016 sponsored by the Deseret News, Zions Bank Corp. and Emery Telcom. 28 San Juan County seniors will vie for the coveted title of Sterling Scholar against 63 other seniors from Carbon, Emery and Grand counties. The awards program will begin at 5:00 p.m. at the Jennifer Leavitt Student Center Ballroom on the USU-Eastern Campus. The public is invited to attend.
The Southeastern Utah Sterling Scholars is presented in cooperation with district officials and high school administrators as well as colleges and universities who support the program through the offer of scholarships and other financial assistance. This year's event will be judged by members of faculties from the USU-Eastern Price and Blanding Campus and other institutions and professionals throughout the state.
The program recognizes high school seniors for scholastic excellence in 14 major categories--English; Forensics and Speech; Mathematics; Social Science; Science; World Language; Visual Arts; Computer Technology; Skilled and Technical Education; Family and Consumer Sciences; Business and Marketing; Music; Drama and Vocal Performance; and Dance.
Nine secondary schools--Monument Valley High School, Navajo Mountain High School, Whitehorse High School, San Juan High School, Monticello High School, Grand County High School, Green River High School, Emery High School, and Carbon High School--participate in the Southeastern Utah Sterling Scholar competition. Similar contests are held in other geographic areas of the state.
Nominees are judged on scholarship, leadership, citizenship, and character. Each nominee prepares a sixteen page personal portfolio outlining his or her scholastic and extracurricular accomplishments. In addition to the portfolio, nominees will be interviewed by three judges in their respective categories.
After judges examine the portfolios and interview each nominee, a winner and two runners-up are selected in each category. Winners will receive $800 and a tablet computer while runners-up will receive $400. Utah colleges, universities, and technical schools also offer full or part tuition scholarships to winners and runners-up.