By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News | Graphic courtesy of Carbon High School

The Carbon High School Sterling Scholars made their final bids for the prestigious award on Monday, March 9. Competing in 14 categories against schools across Southeastern Utah, the Dinos earned nine first-place finishes and five runner-up finishes, totaling $27,500 in scholarships.

Started in 1962 by Deseret News Columnist Steven Hale, the Sterling Scholar program recognizes high school seniors’ academic excellence in schools. According to the competition’s website,” The purpose of the Sterling Scholar Awards is to publicly recognize and encourage the pursuit of excellence in scholarship, leadership and citizenship of high school seniors in the state of Utah. The Sterling Scholar Awards program seeks to commend and encourage excellence among all students.”

Starting before the school year, 14 students are nominated in each category to participate in the competition. These students then build a portfolio relating to their respective categories. These portfolios include letters of recommendation, unique qualities, life-enrichment essays and leadership and community service activities. 

Winners of each category receive a $2,500 scholarship, with runners-up earning a $1,000 scholarship. Many institutions across the state offer additional funding for participants, such as Utah State University, which offers a $2,000 stipend for two years to any winner attending the school.

In a social media post, Carbon High congratulated the scholars,” You have worked so hard and we are incredibly proud of all you have accomplished! Way to go Dinos!”

Castle Country Radio would like to congratulate these students for their academic accomplishments and thank them for representing Castle Country so well.

Below are the full results for Carbon: