LC senior named finalist in nationwide academic honor

A Lewis and Clark High School senior was selected as one of the top 650 academically inclined seniors in the United States and a finalist for “one of the nation’s highest honors” in high school academia.

Marton Mezei learned Thursday he is a finalist to be a U.S. Presidential Scholar. Staff from schools around the nation nominate one pupil from their school for the honor, and the state superintendent’s office picks seniors from that list as finalists for the designation.

Winners from that group of finalists are dubbed U.S. Presidential Scholars and earn a trip to Washington D.C., a tour of the Capitol and meeting with the president.

Mezei’s DECA adviser, Matt Filippini, recommended him as one of the hardest working students in DECA, a club where students learn leadership and business skills. Mezei also interned at The Spokesman-Review this summer in the newspaper’s Teen Journalism Institute.

Mezei first stood out to Filippini his freshman year and first year doing DECA.

“He is just always working and accomplishing something,” Filippini said. “The thing that started everything, he asked me, ‘What do you think I could do to make this world a better place?’ ”

At Filippini’s suggestion, Mezei has been a vocal advocate for financial literacy education in public schools, even pushing for a bill at the Legislature to mandate that it’s taught in high school.

Officials from the Department of Education will select 161 students from the list of 650 finalists to be named U.S. Presidential Scholars. Winners will be announced in May.