Logan High Valedictorian Taylor Fang has also been recognized as a Presidential Scholar
LOGAN – The awards and accolades for Logan High graduate Taylor Fang keep adding up. Fang graduated as a valedictorian of Logan High, has been recognized as a National Student Poet, received Academic All-State for her participation in Debate and Forensics, was a national finalist for the Pulitzer Center’s writing and poetry contest in 2019, was recognized as the winning essayist in the MIT Technology Review in December 2019, and was a runner up in Utah’s Sterling Scholar awards for English.
Now, Fang has also been recognized as a Presidential Scholar, one of only three students in the state of Utah to receive the award. The Presidential Scholar awards recognize 161 high school seniors for their accomplishments in academics, the arts, and career and technical education fields.
“It is my privilege to congratulate the Presidential Scholars Class of 2020 on their outstanding academic achievement, community service, and leadership,” said Secretary DeVos in a statement. “These exemplary young people have excelled inside the classroom and out. And, while they are facing unprecedented challenges as they graduate from high school into a world that looks much different than it did just a few months ago, their determination, resilience, and commitment to excellence will serve them well as they pursue their next steps.”
The 2020 U.S. Presidential Scholars are comprised of one young man and one young woman from each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and U.S. families living abroad, as well as 15 chosen at-large, 20 scholars in the arts and 20 scholars in career and technical education.
The other students from Utah receiving the recognition are Emma Grace Sun (of Waterford School in Sandy) and Moses Giles Samuelson-Lynn (a home-schooled student from West Valley City).
Over 5,300 students nationwide qualified for the award. The 2020 Presidential Scholars program’s Distinguished Teacher for Fang was Mr. Drew Neilson, a teacher of Physics at Logan High
School. The Distinguished Teacher recognitions for the other Presidential Scholars were Dr. James Farre (a professor of Mathematics at Yale University) for Moses Giles Samuelson-Lynn, and Ms. Megan Orton (a teacher of Mathematics at The Waterford School) for Emma Grace Sun.
An official recognition ceremony for the Presidential Scholars Class of 2020 will take place this summer as public health circumstances permit.