Scottsdale Prep Senior named U.S. Presidential Scholar

Scottsdale Preparatory Academy senior Amy Zhou will attend Yale University and eventually pursue a career in politics and public policy.

She has accomplished many things as a high school student including recently being named as a 2019 U.S. Presidential Scholar! The competition started with nearly 3.6 million seniors; 5200 students were identified as candidates and Amy became 1 of 621 semifinalists from across the country before ultimately being named 1 of 161 Presidential Scholars!

Amy was also selected as 1 of 4 students in North America to receive an all-expense paid trip to Iceland this summer under a program sponsored by National Geographic. She will study Iceland’s climate and geology.

While at SPA, Amy was active in Speech & Debate, AZSciTech Chief Science Officer, Diakonos Leadership Council, Mentoring and played varsity indoor volleyball and varsity sand volleyball. Outside of school she was active in the Arizona Governor’s Youth Commission, Scottsdale Mayor’s Youth Council, and economics research at ASU activities.

In addition to being named a U.S. Presidential Scholar, another one of Amy’s other proudest high school achievements was being selected as an American Legion Auxiliary Girls Nation Senator by 288 Girls State delegates. As a result, she received an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, DC and met with some of our nation’s leaders. Amy excels in Speech & Debate and was ranked top 32 in the world in the International Public Policy Forum. The most influential person in Amy’s life was Mr. Travis Clement, SPA Speech & Debate coach. Other fun facts about Amy is that she was featured in a New York Times article and appeared twice on Good Morning America!