Local scholars reflect on leading statewide honor

By Marcus Clem

Local students Patrick Rivas-Giorgi, Michael Tang and Claire Phillips are well accustomed to high academic achievements by now, but to be a part of a group of only 100 graduating seniors recognized as elite in Missouri is a new honor.

Rivas-Giorgi and Tang, who go to Central High School, and Phillips, who attends St. Joseph Christian School, spoke about becoming Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals honorees, as part of the 2024 Scholars 100 list. To obtain a spot on the list is even more selective than the National Merit Scholarship semifinalist roll that the three students became part of last fall, as the National Merit group includes about 300 Missouri students. The average size of the graduating class of seniors statewide is about 59,000.

Each of the students excels not just in classroom grades and test scores but also in extracurriculars. Free time ends up being a precious commodity.

“It’s a lot to balance,” Rivas-Giorgi said. “But, I think the hardest part for me personally was just maintaining the endurance to keep balancing them through the whole year, through all four years. It can really take energy out of you to keep going, but it’s worth the effort in the end.”

At St. Joseph Christian, students are taught that faith is the key to developing the skills and strength required for personal success, and Phillips spoke about how she has taken that lesson to heart.

“Being a good student has always been something that has kind of come easily to me,” she said. “My desire to work hard definitely comes from a desire to please the Lord. Because, He has given me certain gifts, and to not work and use them to the best of my ability would be to squander them.”

Tang by contrast regards the path to have been quite difficult, noting he felt particularly challenged in advanced placement courses, which run students through collegiate-level studies of subjects like chemistry.

“Because they’re college-level courses, you don’t usually learn everything you need to learn in high school,” Tang said. “It requires a lot of out-of-class studying, and I just think like, probably the AP classes and like balancing academics with sports, especially, is also very difficult sometimes,” Tang said. “I think it’s a good way to like, grow as a person.”