Sterling Scholars

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by Adam Jensen

They are the best of the best, the cream of the crop, the titans of their respective playing fields at THS: the Sterling Scholars.

So what is the Sterling Scholar program? The Sterling Scholar Awards recognize and encourage excellence in high school seniors. The Deseret Morning News and KSL television developed this program to award cash scholarships and other tuition wavers to participating colleges or universities.

Because of the program’s size and differences in each region, it covers five geographical areas: the Wasatch Front, Northeast Utah, Central Utah, Southeast Utah and Southwest Utah. The program began in 1962.

Megan Barrus, an English teacher here at THS, is the current Sterling Scholar coordinator. An interesting fact from her: there are actually 13 Sterling Scholars. Ms. Barrus also explained what each candidate needs to do to audition.

“Basically all that they have to do is fill out an application, and they answer a series of questions relating to their experience in their category, the service that they’ve done and leadership experiences that they’ve had. So after they fill out the application, they are interviewed by usually the department head or somebody else in the department,” she said. The department then gathers together to decide who will best represent the school.

Lauren Hunt, senior, is the Visual Arts Sterling Scholar. When asked what she would do with a million dollars, she said, “I would actually buy a shack, not a house, on every single continent in most of the major countries. I probably couldn’t buy that much for a million dollars, but then I could just go from shack, to shack, to shack, to shack, because my favorite thing to do is traveling.”

Lauren Hunt also participated in the exchange program, and commented, “You make these connections that you can use for the rest of your life.” Then we asked what she wanted to be remembered as, and she stated that “I want to be one of those grandmas that doesn’t seem like a grandma. I want to be one of those grandmas who you call by their first name, and at some point in my life, I want to get a motorcycle. So I would love to be remembered as a grandma with a motorcycle, at least with my family.” Then

Jesse Riddle, senior, is the English Sterling Scholar. When asked what she would do with a million dollars, she said, “I would hide it in a tree, then make a treasure map and give it to my grandchildren.” When asked what her epitaph might be someday, she responded, “Thank you. Or hallelujah.” She actually drives her dream car, but doesn’t own the red Toyota Tacoma. The piece of wisdom she would share with people is to “wear comfortable shoes.” She has three younger brothers in her family, and they’re all three years apart. In the summer, she wants to get a job at Aspen Grove, and in the fall she is going to a currently undetermined college.

She had a very tough time thinking of a favorite class. She loves all of her English classes, and her choir classes at well. She was also asked about the funniest thing that ever happened to her, and after laughing for a bit, replied, “We were at cross country practice, of course, because that’s where everything cool happens. I was with a certain girl, and she was chasing people around, biting them.” One boy then started dragging the girl across the gym, then there were two, one lifting by the arms and one by the legs, then one boy rushed in from the side to rescue her, then a fourth boy nearly pants-ed him… “By the end we were all just hyperventilating.”

“I’ve loved English since I was really little. I’ve loved reading since before kindergarten. Part of it is from my mom, an English teacher,” said Riddle. “But mostly I love English because I think words are beautiful. They have power.”

2008 Sterling Scholar / State Finalists:
Jason Longhurst: Trade and Technical Education
Andrew Bowns: Computer Technology
Kristy Mathisen: Family & Consumer Science
John Sargeant: Music

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