Alania Whittington, a graduating senior at Diagonal High School, has been named one of more than 5,000 candidates in the 2023 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program.
The candidates were selected from nearly 3.6 million students expected to graduate from U.S. high schools in the year 2023.
This year, sixty-seven Iowa high school seniors were selected as candidates for the national scholars program.
Whittington is the daughter of JP and Amy Whittington of Diagonal.
Whittingtton is active in a variety of high school activities, including First Tech Challenge Robotics, National Honor Society, student council, speech, drama, volleyball, archery and band.
She is President of the Mount Ayr FFA Chapter, HELP Youth Pod Philanthropy group and the Twin River Tornadoes 4-H club.
In addition, she serves as the only student member representative on the Iowa State Board of Education.
Her future plans include attending college to major in political science and history.
Inclusion in the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program is one of the highest honors bestowed upon graduating high school seniors.
Scholars are selected on the basis of superior academic and artistic achievements, leadership qualities, strong character and involvement in community and school activities.
The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964 by Executive Order of the President to recognize some of our nation’s most distinguished graduating seniors for their accomplishments in many areas: academic success, leadership, and service to school and community.
