Seniors Gage Gottman and Paige Kight were named as 2022 United States Presidential Scholar candidates. They are two of the 5,000 students selected by the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars and the United States Department of Education out of the nearly 3.6 million high school seniors. This includes only 70 students from Kentucky.

The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964 to recognize and honor some of the nation’s most distinguished high school seniors. Gottman and Kight were selected based on their academic success, leadership and service to their school and community. Five hundred semifinalists will be chosen as finalists, and then up to 161 of the finalists will be named as Presidential Scholars. Those students will be honored this summer at the White House.

This honor adds to the list of Gottman’s many accomplishments, including being an AP Scholar, Kentucky Governor’s Scholar alumni and Paducah Bank Teen of the Week. He has also served as a diabetes ambassador for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation for two years, helping raise almost $500,000 for the foundation. Gottman is the founder and captain of the Tilghman Esports team as well as a member of the board of directors for the PT Sustainability Club. He is involved in National Honor Society, Academic Team and the Future Problem Solving Team. His involvement continues into the Tilghman concert choir, marching band and pep bands.

Kight’s accomplishments are also extensive. She is a National Merit Semifinalist, an AP Scholar with distinction, a Paducah Teen of the Week and has recently earned a perfect ACT score. She is also a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholar, through which she has attended summer research and field studies programs at  University of Pennsylvania, Duke University, Northwestern University, Brown University, University of Connecticut and MIT. She has won numerous awards while competing as the captain of both the JV and varsity academic teams. She is also a member of the choir, concert band, speech team, National Honor Society, Interact Club, Sustainability Club, PT Pageturners club, Dungeons and Dragons Club and the Beta Club.