New Trier Senior Named Presidential Scholar Semifinalist

KENILWORTH, IL — In the course of last week, high school senior Asher Noel was named a semifinalist in the prestigious U.S. Presidential Scholars Program, won second place in the Illinois Econ Challenge as part of a newly formed team and helped lead the New Trier Science Olympiad team to qualify for the national finals with a record-setting score at the state championships.

Noel, 18, of Kenilworth, was named as one of just 620 Presidential Scholars semifinalists in the nation and 21 in Illinois. He was the only one of eight candidates from New Trier High School to advance.

"It's an incredible honor," Noel said. "Thanks in so many ways to the limitless opportunities at New Trier, and how I've taken advantage of a finite few of them."

The 54-year-old Presidential Scholars program was established by Lyndon Johnson and is one of the highest honors awarded to graduating high school seniors. About 160 scholars will be selected by the Commission on Presidential Scholars and announced next month. In June, the honorees will be receive an expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C., and be awarded a U.S. Presidential Scholars medallion at a ceremony sponsored by the White House.

"If I am selected to be a Presidential Scholar, I will have the privilege of shaking Donald Trump's hand, which is very exciting." Noel said. "Apparently last year, Donald Trump didn't show up and the finalists only got to shake Melania's hand, but either way it would be a great honor."

The application process to go from one of about 5,000 candidates to the list of semifinalists named this week involved more essays than any of his college admission essays, as well as a teacher recognition component, Noel said. As graduation approaches, Noel is deciding between offers to pursue the dual-degree Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology at the University of Pennsylvania or attend Yale University. Either way, he expects to major in astrophysics or computer science while taking classes across a broad array of disciplines.

Within the same week as his designation as a Presidential Scholars semifinalist, Noel also was part of two trophy-winning New Trier teams at statewide academic competitions.

New Trier took part in the Illinois Econ Challenge for the first time this month. The recently formed team took second place in the state finals at the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago on April 9 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

A few days later, Noel was in Champaign for the Illinois Science Olympiad state tournament. He is a co-head of the New Trier team, which qualified for nationals as the runner-up in Illinois. Competing in four events, he earned two golds and a silver. Stevenson High School took the state's top spot by just four points.

In addition to his time spent in competitive extra-curricular activities, Noel was one of just 36 students who took part in the 2018 Summer Science Program. He spent the summer working at New Mexico Tech taking part in an astrophysics research program.

Noel is also one of four co-founders of BinaryHeart, which began as an independent club to help repair and refurbish computers, donating them to a nonprofit that supports less fortunate communities in Chicago and recycling whatever cannot be salvaged. Last year, the group became an official New Trier club. Noel has also worked as an intern with the school's IT department to help resolve issues and explore the development of a practical technology curriculum.

"New Trier has been really supportive of, really, anything that any student has wanted to pursue, including starting nonprofits and internship opportunities within the school itself," Noel said.

Related:

• New Trier Science Olympiad Wins State Championship
• 8 Trevian Presidential Scholars Candidates Named
• New Trier Volunteers Repair, Donate Unneeded Electronic Devices