As the 2024-2025 school year ends, seniors get ready to graduate and move on to the next chapter of their lives. Seniors Sonja Woerner and Brian Li made their mark on Kennedy through academics, representing Kennedy as Presidential Scholar Candidates.
The Presidential Scholar Award recognises seniors who have had a successful academic career and advanced standardized test scores on the ACT or SAT. From the nominees, 161 seniors are chosen.
“The presidential scholarship is a distinction that about 160 students are awarded in the entire United States,” nominee Sonja Woerner said. “It’s for high school seniors. You are nominated as a presidential scholar candidate based on SAT and ACT scores. So, if you get a really high SAT score, you can get nominated.”
Out of around 6,000 nominees, two students from Kennedy High School were selected as nominees, Sonja Woerner and Brian Li. Woerner and Li achieved this nomination by scoring higher than most on their advanced standardized test scores such as SAT or ACT.
“Only two students at Kennedy were nominated, and there are about 6,000 students in the United States in total who’ll be nominated,” Woerner said. “If you’re looking to achieve the same award, you really just have to study for your standardized tests,” Woerner said. “All of those awards like National Merit Scholar and Presidential Scholar, those are all based on your PSAT, SAT and ACT scores. So take those tests seriously and study for them because they do matter and they will end up getting you scholarships in the future.”
The application process is long and somewhat complicated. It involves writing five essays, getting a teacher’s letter of recommendation and completing a detailed description of all high school activities. Nominees must a certain number of volunteer hours, extracurricular activities and special talents.
“The application process is kind of strenuous. You have to get a letter of recommendation from a teacher, which has about ten parts for them to fill out, then you have to get it approved by your principal,” Woerner said. “You have to get all of your transcripts in order, write five essays and you need to do all of the typical scholarship stuff like detail extracurriculars, volunteer hours, special talents, all of that.”
One thing that is a stand out is the extracurricular activities that participants are involved in. Being a well rounded student is something that the nomination committee takes into account.
“I’m currently in NHS, student council, Math NHS, I work at subway and I volunteer at Mercy every once in a while,” nominee Brian Li said. “I’m also taking classes at Coe and Kirkwood right now.”
Along with Li, Woerner is also involved in various activities at Kennedy.
“I’m involved in a lot of things across Kennedy, which I hope makes my application pretty strong,” Woerner said. “I do show choir tech and theater tech. I do a lot with journalism and I’ve received a lot of recognition through it. I’ve also done swimming for four years, so I feel like I’m a pretty well rounded student, which gives me a better chance of being selected.”
After high school, both nominees plan to take on intensive workloads. Woerner plans to pursue biochemistry with a specialty in biophysics and a minor in the performing arts with an emphasis on technical theater while Li plans to double major in finance and political science.
Both seniors were notified of their semifinalist status in April and were not selected, but being nominated is an accomplishment in and of itself—both Woerner and Li can be seen as academic leaders. Both seniors advise underclassmen that getting involved is a great way to make sure you make the most out of your high school experience.
“High school is fleeting and before you know it you are already in senior year,” Li said. “It’s really important to be involved in clubs and activities and to enjoy it while you can.”
