Christian J. Perry, Scott M. Frischknecht, Kimberly Eden, McKell Nelson, Chalisse Hunsaker, Derek Skiby, Madison Riccardi, Zachary Ewell, Savannah Sorg, Caleb Thomson, Jayden Harames, Nicole Kearl, Sarah Draper, Sarah Shaw
Savannah Sorg wanted to become the visual arts Sterling Scholar for Box Elder in order to “challenge my limits.” Her favorite classes include art and psychology. Her biggest struggle has been learning to deal with mental and physical health problems. She said, “These problems caused me to miss most of my sophomore year, so making up the lost credits from that year has been a challenge. It has also been difficult to regain the confidence I once had in myself before I had to face these trials.” But Savannah has been able use her art as a form of therapy to help her gain back her self-esteem. She enjoys drawing, cooking and sewing in her spare time. Savannah plans on attending college after high school, with the hopes on earning a master’s degree in clinical psychology, specializing in the mental health of children and adolescents.
Caleb Thompson became the math Sterling Scholar for Box Elder because he was good at math throughout school. His favorite class has been AP Chemistry because “it was a hard class that challenged me and I learned a great deal from it.” Caleb’s biggest challenge has been learning to balance his time since he plays football and runs track while maintaining a 4.0 GPA. He enjoys playing music on the saxophone, clarinet and piano as well as spending time with his family and playing sports in his spare time. After graduating from high school, Caleb plans on serving an LDS mission and attending Utah State University, with the plan of majoring in biological engineering.
Derek Skiby’s motivation to become the family and consumer sciences Sterling Scholar for Box Elder came from his twin brother. He said, “In anything and everything we do, the other one is encouraged to do the same, in this case he was running to become a Sterling Scholar.” He also received encouragement from his family and consumer science teacher, Janet Stloworthy. His favorite class is food service and culinary because it offers a variety of things for students to do each day. “If you don’t like what you are doing one day, the next day you probably will. In my case, I liked everything that I cooked. The most fulfilling part of the class is probably where you can sign up and sell what you made at lunch time watching people buy your food.” Derek’s biggest challenge has been learning to overcome having to run against his brother in the organization FCCLA. “We were going head to head to see who would get the prestigious title of a V.P. of FCCLA,” he said. Derek enjoys being a part in the swim team, baking, going to FCCLA events and hanging out with his friends and family. After high school, he plans on going to Southern Utah University, majoring in biology. After that, he would like to attend medical school at the University of Utah.
Zachary Ewell has been involved with music throughout his life, which is why be wanted to become the instrumental music Sterling Scholar for Box Elder. He said, “I have received other awards in music and becoming the overall Sterling Scholar for music would complete my hard work in my study of the piano and organ.” His favorite class has been AP chemistry because it “exposed the entire world to me.” Zachary also said, “It was fascinating to see the incredible possibilities from all the various elements of the Earth and to discover the laws that governed them. AP Chemistry was also a challenging class, and being able to get a good score on the AP test was very rewarding for me.” He has also enjoyed his jazz band class as well. Zachary’s biggest challenge has been learning how to prioritize his time with all of his activities. “Music has started taking more time out of my life because of music festivals and competitions and my lessons. Because of this, I don't have the time to do other things that I have done previously. For example, I have been on our track team for three years, and this would have been my fourth year participating. However, I have greater talent in music than in running, so even though a lot of my friends are on the team, I didn't participate in track this year because of different priorities,” he said. Zachary enjoys practicing the organ in his spare time as well as playing the piano, running and hanging out with friends. After high school, he plans on serving an LDS mission and then attending college (either BYU or University of Utah) either majoring in genetics or organ playing.
The other Sterling Scholars for Box Elder are: Sarah Shaw (English), Jaydin Harames (social science), Nicole Kearl (science), Christian J. Perry (computer technology), Sarah Draper (skilled and technical sciences), Scott M. Frischknecht (speech/theater arts and forensics), Kimberly Eden (music/vocal), Madison Riccardi (dance) and McKell Nelson (business and marketing) and Chalisse Hunsaker (world language)
