Abigail
Wurth and Nathaniel Skinner, seniors at Paducah Tilghman High School,
have been named candidates in the 2023 United States Presidential
Scholars Program by the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars
and the United States Department of Education. Of the nearly 3.6 million
high school seniors graduating this year, approximately 5,000 students
from across the country have been selected to participate in the
prestigious recognition program. Approximately 90 Kentucky high school
seniors have been designated 2023 Presidential Scholar Candidates and
Abigail and Nathaniel are the only ones selected from western Kentucky.
The
U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964 by executive
order of the president to recognize and honor some of the nation's most
distinguished high school seniors. Students are selected based on
academic success, leadership, and service to school and community.
The
Commission on Presidential Scholars will select 500 semifinalists from
the national pool of honored students. In the spring, up to 161 of
those students, including one male and one female from each state, the
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and from families
of U.S. citizens living abroad, will be named as U.S. Presidential
Scholars. These students will be recognized at the White House later
this summer.
Abigail is an AP Scholar with Distinction and has been the recipient of seven of Tilghman’s Annual Departmental Top Student Awards, including three years in Math, three years in Social Studies, and one year in English. She is a graduate of the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce Youth LEAD Class #11 and has been a Paducah Bank Teen Ambassador the last two years.
She is President of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), having been a member all four years. She won 2nd place in Kentucky for the FBLA Intro to Financial Math exam in 2021 and won 4th place in Kentucky for the FBLA Intro to Financial Math exam in 2020. She is Editor-in-Chief of the Tilghman Bell student newspaper, one of the Senior Class Representatives on the Tilghman Student Council, a member of the Beta Blub and National Honor Society, and has been a member of Interact Club, Pep Club, and Tilghman’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes all four years. She is also a Tilghman Student Ambassador.
Abigail
has been a member of the Tilghman Varsity Girls Soccer Team all four
years, the last two years as Varsity Captain. She ranked 7th in Kentucky for Assists in the 2019 season and 24th
in Kentucky for Assists in 2020. She was the recipient of the Silver
Boot Award and Best Midfielder Award in 2019, has been named to the
All-District Team three years in a row, received Honorable Mention for
the All-Region Team twice, and was named to the Second Team All-Region
Team twice. She also helps coach and mentor Paducah Middle School Soccer
team players. Abigail has played travel soccer with the Pumas Futbol
Club since 2011, including the 2018 season when the team won the State
Championship.
She was also a member of the Tilghman Varsity Girls Basketball Team for three years as a point guard.
Abigail has been very involved in volunteering and community service, including helping organize, coach, and referee Tilghman Basketball and Soccer Clinics for younger students, assisting at St. Vincent DePaul, Mercy Health Hospice, the Save Our Rivers project to label all storm drains that lead to the Ohio River, helping build raised flower beds at the Paducah Senior Citizen Center, helping with the Mayfield tornado relief through Heartland ACTS Ministry, Tilghman’s Red Cross Blood Drives, Tilghman’s Girls Basketball Little Dribblers Saturday Clinics, and the West Kentucky Launch Career Fair
She is employed as a Referee for McCracken County Youth Soccer and as a Referee for Region 1 Middle School Soccer. She is a member of St. Thomas More Catholic Church.
Abigail is the daughter of Renee and Matthew Wurth.
Nathaniel
is an AP Scholar, a National Merit Commended Student, an alumnus of the
Kentucky Governor’s Scholar Program, a 2023 Coca-Cola Scholars
Foundation Semi-finalist, and a School Winner in the Heisman High School
Scholarship program. He’s also a graduate of the Paducah Area Chamber
of Commerce Youth LEAD Class #11 and was recently named Paducah Rotary
Student of the Month.
He’s
a member of the Paducah Tilghman Varsity Soccer Team, the 2021 First
District All-District Soccer Team, plays travel soccer with Pumas FC,
and is a devotional leader for Tilghman’s Fellowship of Christian
Athletes. He’s an Executive Officer and one of the Senior Class
Representatives on the Tilghman Student Council and serves as the
Chaplain on the Executive Committee for the Baptist Health Medical
Explorers Post 2501. He was also one of 47 sophomores selected from
across the state of Kentucky to attend the University of Kentucky
College of Medicine Area Health Education Center Summer Camp in 2021.
He
is first violin, second chair, for the Tilghman Orchestra, plays tenor
saxophone in the Tilghman Pep Band and in the Paducah Community Band,
and plays fiddle, banjo and guitar with Time on the Strings. He’s a
Tilghman Student Ambassador, member of the Interact Club and Pep Club,
and is Secretary for the Sustainability Club. He’s also a member of the
National Honor Society and Beta Club, former Paducah Bank Teen
Ambassador and currently serves on the Paducah Bank Teen Ambassador
Alumni Board, and is a former Paducah Pathfinder.
Nathaniel
competes with the Tilghman Academic Team in Governor’s Cup competitions
in Written Competition and in the individual testing subjects of
Science and Arts and Humanities. For the past three years, he has served
as both a volunteer and paid tutor and mentor at the Oscar Cross Boys
and Girls Club.
He’s
a state finalist in the 2023 Kentucky Society Daughters of the American
Revolution Scholarship program and in 2020 he won the National First
Place Award for the Daughters of the American Revolution Short Story
Contest. He also received First Place in the 2022 District NAACP Martin
Luther King Junior Essay Contest for the High School Division. He’s a
Centre College Fellow and a member of the Kentucky High School Athletic
Association Academic All-State First Team.
Nathaniel
is a member of Concord United Methodist Church and has held the
position of Youth Representative to the Church Council. He also plays
violin for the church praise and worship band. He is an active volunteer
for several community projects and agencies, including the Community
Kitchen, Family Kitchen, Starfish Orphan Ministries, mission trips to El
Salvador, and Christmas in the Park.
Nathaniel is the son of William and Dr. Rennie Church Skinner.
“Abigail
and Nathaniel have consistently demonstrated exceptional scholarship
and used their talents in remarkable service to others,” said Tilghman
Principal Allison Stieg. “The Tilghman family is proud to see their
names listed among the nation’s most outstanding high school seniors.”
Pictured L to R: Nathaniel Skinner, Abigail Wurth