This bright Rock Bridge senior is one of Missouri's U.S. Presidential Scholars
Rock Bridge High School senior Kyle Chen has continued the Columbia Public Schools tradition of producing Presidential Scholars.
He's the 23rd winner in the school district's history.
Kyle, from Rock Bridge, and Teresa Jiang, from John Burroughs School in St. Louis, are the state's two Presidential Scholars this year.
Created in an executive order by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964, the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program recognizes one male student and one female student from each state every year, plus 15 chosen at large, 20 scholars in the arts and 20 in career and technical education.
"I'm very excited," Kyle said on Friday, the last day of classes for seniors at Rock Bridge. "I'm very humbled by it."
He credited his parents, his sister, his teachers, friends and the schools with supporting him along the way.
"I don't know if I could have gotten here without help from everyone in my community," Kyle said.
Among Kyle's academic achievements is a perfect ACT score. It was his second try after getting a 35 the first time.
He's taken lots of advanced placement courses and also takes courses at the University of Missouri. He's finishing matrix theory there now. He also has taken calculus 3, university physics 1 and 2 and differential equations.
He had an internship under MU professor Guan Bian, studying the element antimony.
The interview took place after his advanced placement English literature class.
He founded the Science National Honor Society at Rock Bridge and is co-president of Rock Bridge Reaches Out, where students visit nursing home residents.
He's co-president of the Rock Bridge Spanish Honor Society that held a toy drive, conducted tutoring sessions and ended its year with a fun taco night.
Kyle plays clarinet in the wind symphony.
He will next study at the California Institute of Technology.
"It's like a STEM-based school," Kyle said. STEM is science, technology, engineering and math.
He has career goals in mind, too.
"I hope to become a professor in some STEM field and create something that will benefit society and will help everyone," Kyle said.
Kyle will graduate Saturday morning at Mizzou Arena. He's looking forward to graduation, but he said some part of him will miss high school, his friends and his teachers.
"After today, I'm officially done with high school," Kyle said.
State Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven praised Missouri's Presidential Scholars in a news release.
“This is such an esteemed honor, and I applaud both Kyle and Teresa for their hard work and impressive achievements,” Vandeven said in the release. “The rigorous coursework these students have committed to has paid off and will continue to do so as they pursue their chosen paths to success.”
U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona also recognized the 58th class of U.S. Presidential Scholars.
"Our 2022 Presidential Scholars represent the best of America and remind us that when empowered by education, there are no limits to what our young people can achieve," Cardona said in the release.
With now 23 Presidential Scholars, CPS has had more than any other school district in the state, spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark has said.
In 2021, Hickman High School senior Justin Eddy was one of 20 nationwide to be recognized for career and technical education. Before that, the most recent Presidential Scholar was Rock Bridge senior Michele Yang in 2015.
The school district is proud of Kyle, Baumstark wrote in an email.
"Being selected as a Presidential Scholar is one of the highest scholastic honors a student can receive," she wrote.
Roger McKinney is the education reporter for the Tribune. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Rock Bridge senior Kyle Chen earns Presidential Scholar award
