The Sterling Scholar Awards are open to Utah public high school seniors. It is expected that each school will nominate one candidate in any of the 14 categories. Each school may nominate only one nominee in each of the 14 categories and a nominee may be nominated in only one category. The selection process and nomination of nominees as Sterling Scholar nominees is left entirely up to each high school. Sterling Scholar officials consider a nominee a high school senior if he/she will be graduating with the senior class during the current school year. Sterling Scholar Handbook
High school seniors who attend college classes full or part-time or are classified as foreign exchange nominees are eligible for the Sterling Scholar Awards. However, the program is designed to recognize scholastic achievement in Utah public high schools. To be selected a Sterling Scholar nominee students must have extraordinary scholarship scores as well as service in leadership and community service/citizenship opportunities at their Utah public high school. It is up to each school to determine if an individual has been in attendance enough to experience these leadership and community service/citizenship opportunities. Each Sterling Scholar nominee’s entire school experience will be considered, although emphasis will be placed on the high school years.
High school officials are urged to nominate scholars for categories in which the nominees are genuinely interested and qualified.
Ultimately, selecting nominees is the responsibility of the school principal and not the Deseret News or KSL Broadcast Group. No specific method of selection is required, although the process outlined below provides an excellent opportunity to encourage scholarship. Accordingly, the opportunity to apply to the Sterling Scholar program should be open to as many nominees as possible. The following procedure is encouraged to determine each school’s Sterling Scholar:
- Principal selects and assigns a committee of school faculty, including a Sterling Scholar coordinator, to administer the nomination process of public high school seniors for Sterling Scholar Awards participation.
- The committee should create a questionnaire that is distributed to nominees as a guide for evaluating activities, achievements and ambitions within an area of high school education that is characterized by one of the Sterling Scholar categories.
- The completed questionnaire and supporting materials should be submitted to the principal and/or assigned committee for review. Departmental advisors should be contacted for aid in nominee recommendations based on the submitted questionnaire and additional information.
- Ultimately, the principal will determine which individual in each category will be submitted as the school’s official nominee.
PLEASE NOTE: The Deseret News and the KSL Broadcast Group do NOT take part in the selection of nominees. All questions must be directed to the school and NOT the Deseret News or KSL Broadcast Group. All inquiries must be handled by the school coordinator, principal or assistant principal, who is responsible for contacting the Sterling Scholar director for clarification (this includes parents, nominees, teachers, etc.).