New Canaan Students Selected As U.S. Presidential Scholar Candidates

NEW CANAAN, CT — A number of New Canaan students who attend different schools in the area have been selected as candidates for the 2025 United States Presidential Scholars Program.

The candidates are as follows:

New Canaan High School

• Benjamin Kim
• Olivia F. Mohr
• Thomas Pisant
• Radea K. Raleva
• Tedrah G. Smedley
• Alexander Yuan

St. Luke's School

• Christian Xia

Cardinal Kung Academy

• Adela Horsting

Established in 1964 by Executive Order of the President, the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program recognizes and honors some of the nation’s most distinguished graduating high school seniors.

Application is by invitation only, so students may not apply individually to the program, nor may their schools nominate them, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

The selection of approximately 4,000 general program candidates is mostly made based on SAT and ACT scores.

Approximately 650 candidates are named semifinalists and forwarded to the Commission on Presidential Scholars for review.

In April, the Commission reviews the applications of all semifinalists and selects up to 161 U.S Presidential Scholars each year.

All scholars are honored for their accomplishments during the online National Recognition Program. U.S Presidential Scholars are awarded the U.S. Presidential Scholars medallion each June.

Being named a U.S. Presidential Scholar is one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students.

More information on the program can be found here.

Richard Kaufman, Patch Staff contributed to this report.