By Heather Lawrence | [email protected]

The Sterling Scholars is a scholarship award for Utah seniors. It is sponsored by the Deseret News and recognizes outstanding students in 14 categories. Of the 14 nominees from Olympus High School, seven are finalists being considered for the overall category winner.  

“We are proud of all our Sterling Scholars. They are hard-working and incredible students. In addition, we’re pleased to announce that seven finalists from our school have been selected to compete at the state level,” said Jane Nate, Olympus counselor and Sterling Scholar coordinator. Those finalists are: Business and Marketing - Andrew Benson; Computer Technology - Charlie Nadauld; English - Peyton Rice; FCS - Camilla Lunt; Instrumental Music - Caroline Farnsworth; Skilled & Technical - Alyssa Kotter; and World Language - Isabell Crosland.

Students who enter are judged on five weighted criteria: scholarship, including GPA and difficulty of class load; category expertise; leadership and community service/citizenship are each worth 15% of the score. The biggest single category is a personal interview with a judge, worth 40% of the score. 

The Sterling Scholar program adapted several of the requirements this year due to COVID-19. One was removing the ACT score in the application. A note in the online handbook stated that “ACT scores will not be accepted this year.”

Another change was the addition of a personal introduction video in place of a semifinal interview. “For the 2021 competition there will not be semifinal in person or virtual interviews, so we are asking that nominees create… a three-minute video introducing themselves,” the handbook said. 

There was also a new performance video requirement for applicable categories: Speech/Theater Arts/Forensics, Vocal Performance, Visual Arts, Instrumental Music, Dance and World Languages. 

Winners of the contest will be announced March 18, though the details of the ceremony are still being determined.