Three Canyons students two from Hillcrest and one from Jordan high schools captured first-place category honors in the 2020 Sterling Scholars competition.
The CSD winners are:
- Rishab Balakrishnan, Hillcrest, in the Business and Marketing category
- Sanjana Kargi, Hillcrest, in the Computer Technology category
- Nathan Holley, Jordan, in the Speech/Theater Arts/Forensics category
Ten other Canyons students earned finalist status in the 49th annual competition, sponsored by the Deseret News and KSL-TV.
The students are judged in 14 categories. The topics include business and marketing; computer technology; dance; English; family and consumer sciences; instrumental music; mathematics; science; skilled and technical sciences education; social science; speech/theater arts/forensics; visual arts; vocal performance and world languages.
Typically, the winners are announced during a ceremony in the Conference Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, this year’s ceremony was cancelled because of the restrictions placed on mass gatherings as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Instead, all the winners and runners-up were announced in the Deseret News.
The Sterling Scholar program celebrates the academic and artistic achievements of students in Utah schools. Every school is invited to nominate one student in each category. Candidates are judged by panels, and the top-scoring students advance through the judging process.
Top winners and runners-up were selected after final interviews on Feb. 28.
Category winners earn $2,500 scholarships. Runners-up, including Hillcrest’s Horace Gao, in Instrumental Music, receive $1,000 scholarships. Winning students also are eligible for scholarships and tuition waivers at several Utah colleges and universities.
