Though like so many others these days, Clay James is relegated to staying home — and yet he’s been stacking up some impressive accomplishments.
James learned last week that he was one of just 621 high school students nationwide to be selected as a semifinalist for the Presidential Scholars Program, established in 1964 by Executive Order of the President to recognize and honor the nation’s most distinguished graduating seniors.
Up to 161 students are named U.S. Presidential Scholars each year, which is considered one of the nation’s highest student honors. The majority of the Scholars are selected on the basis of broad academic achievement. Approximately twenty additional students are selected on the basis of their academic and artistic scholarship in the visual arts, the performing arts, or creative writing. Another twenty students are selected on the basis of their outstanding scholarship and accomplishment in career and technical education fields.
For James, a Destrehan High School senior, the honor came during a week where he and four fellow students were being recognized for using their robotics and technical expertise to make PPE equipment for health care workers using 3D printers.
“I was excited … it’s a pretty big honor,” James said. “I was thinking about it and feel like I’ve got a decent shot. If I get to the next level, I’d get to meet the President, and that would be pretty sweet.”
James was one of three Destrehan seniors to make it out of the parish level competition and onto the state level. At that point, each student put together an intensive application to submit for review.
“That was a massive application. It was the most strenuous part,” James said.
He said what made his application stand out hasn’t been communicated to him, but said much of the essay subject matter related to his passion for the many activities and groups he’s a part of within school and his community.
James is a lead member of the DHS robotics team, a competitor on the school’s swim team and an Eagle Scout, among highlights of his activities.
“The bar’s always been kind of high with my family,” James said. “I’m kind of used to doing everything I can. So to me, it’s just kind of the normal way I carry on with life … just expected that you go out for everything you can and be passionate about it.
“I guess it’s not too normal, since I’ve got this far, but I didn’t go in with the mindset to get these awards, but to go in, do my best and make an impact.”
He said the semifinalists will likely find out in May where they stand.
In the meantime, he’s found a calling in the PPE work he, three fellow DHS robotics team members and one alumnus have been putting together. The group has already made hundreds of PPE facemask visors, and they estimate they will be able to print approximately 5,000 visor pieces within the next month.
While robotics season was cancelled, the skills the team cultivated over many long hours and late nights did not go to waste.
“We face challenges every day in robotics and adapt,” James said. “So with what we’re doing now … (the pandemic) is a lot more serious, but so many of the same elements are there. We knew it was time sensitive and that we needed to make as much as we could. So it was a matter of dropping one challenge and picking up another, and one has significantly more benefit in affecting the community.”
Be the first to comment