New Presidential Scholar in Mesa a multi-talented student
Matteo Huish’s craving for knowledge opened several avenues for him. Matteo Huish, a newly-minted student at BASIS Mesa, has been named one of Arizona’s three Presidential Scholars for 2024. The U.S. Department of Education announced that over 5,700 candidates qualified for the 2024 Presidential Scholar awards, partly based on outstanding SAT or ACT scores. The White House Commission on Presidential Scholars selects high school seniors annually based on academic success, including a demonstrated commitment to community service and leadership. While the award comes with no money, Matteo and others of the Presidential Scholars Class of 2024 will be recognized for their outstanding achievement on June 24 with an online recognition program.
Pubblicato : 10 mesi fa di Tribune Staff Writer, Judy Kernen in Politics
Matteo Huish’s craving for knowledge opened several avenues for him.
The biggest came recently when the newly minted BASIS Mesa grad was named one of Arizona’s three Presidential Scholars for 2024.
“For me, being recognized as a presidential scholar is a great honor, that the actions I was able to take in high school have made enough of an impact to gain this recognition,” Matteo said.
He got the word second-hand.
Tisha Huish, Matteo’s mom, opened an email from the U.S Department of Education that announced her son is one of 161 high school seniors across the country selected as a Presidential Scholar.
“My mom read the email first, and she was jumping up and down. I was excited to, but I feel like I couldn’t one-up her,” Huish said.
The department said over 5,700 candidates qualified for the 2024 Presidential Scholar awards, which are partly determined by outstanding SAT or ACT scores, or through nominations made by chief state school officers, other partner recognition organizations or YoungArts, the National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists.
The White House Commission on Presidential Scholars selects high school seniors annually based on academic success, “excellence in the arts and in technical education through essays, school evaluations and transcripts, as well as a demonstrated commitment to community service and leadership.”
While the award comes with no money, Matteo and others of the Presidential Scholars Class of 2024 will be recognized for their outstanding achievement on June 24 with an online recognition program. Before the pandemic, scholars were awarded an all-expenses-paid-trip to D.C for an in-person ceremony.
With a 4.0 GPA at BASIS Mesa, Matteo scored a perfect SAT score of 1600. “I studied for three months for that test,” he said.
Matteo said applying for the Presidential Scholar program after he was nominated earlier this year, was like applying for admission to a college or university.
“It’s not the hours you put in, but what you put in the hours,” he explained. “So, you’ve got to find out what you’re bad at and then study effectively and efficiently.”
Each scholar is offered the opportunity to name their most influential teacher, and Matteo chose Greg Thorson, an economics and government teacher at BASIS Mesa.
“Mr. Thorson has coached me in varsity basketball, and coached and mentored my group for the National Economics Challenge, which we ended up winning state and then I got sixth place at nationals for 2022. He just inspired me a lot.”
Thorson was named a 2024 Distinguished Teacher by the Presidential Scholar program.
Matteo received the most valuable player and athlete of the year awards for his role as captain of BASIS Mesa’s varsity basketball team.
Matteo had a different plan earlier in his high school career. In his sophomore year, he applied to boarding schools, searching for a different learning experience.
In his junior year, he enrolled in Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, which teaches using the Harkness method.
“It’s just discussion-based and so kids are teaching different kids, which I really love,” he said. He also was on Exeter’s varsity rowing team and a member of a few acapella groups.
“I basically went to college at 16 years old. My parents came with me, helped me move into my dorm, then flew back home. I definitely learned a lot at boarding school,” he said.
“When I went to Exeter, the plan was to graduate there, but God had different plans for me. My spring term of my junior year, I developed significant medical issues that forced me to stay home the next year, but everything happens for a reason. … I am almost back. I spent the past year with family, and I was able to graduate back in my home state.
“I have great communities of support and love in Exeter, New Hampshire and Arizona, but there is just something different about being with family.”
At BASIS Mesa, Matteo was co-founder and co-president of Brother and Sisters Serving Others, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting families facing debilitating medical bills. He also led the students supporting a brain tumor research club at BASIS Mesa.
In his freshman year, he said he received the Presidential Volunteer Service Award Gold Medal for his work with Brothers and Sisters Serving Others.
He and his brother started Brothers and Sisters Serving Others in 2011 when a friend said his family was going to lose their home. Matteo and his brother hosted a few yard sales to raise money.
“I don’t know if it was the smiling faces, or people learned out what the real cause was, but a bunch of people came over and donated. We ended up helping them save their home and pay their rent.
“My mom posted it on Facebook, and other people who were struggling with diseases, illnesses and their families reached out and said ‘Can you do the same thing for us?’ Then, we did another fundraiser, and more families reached out and it kind of spiraled into what it is today.”
Brothers and Sisters Serving Others hosts several fundraiser events including dances, fun-runs, yard sales, car washes, and more.
In his sophomore year, Matteo became a certified nutrition coach and wrote a book titled “Jesus, Genetics, Connection.” He said that when he was 14, he researched nutrition and fitness sciences to better understand how the human body loses fat and achieve health goals.
“I just want to help other people, other struggling teenagers, do the same thing,” he said.
Huish said his book covers the three components that helped him in his health goals: A connection to a higher power, understanding your genetic blueprint, and learning about nutrition and fitness science.
“There are certain genetic traits that predispose you to a slower transition between fat and carbohydrate burning, or a myriad of different genetic traits, that you can kind of tailor your actions to, to actually help you with your health goals,” he explained.
Matteo’s father, Jeremy Huish, is a Mesa native and studied law accountancy and law at Arizona State and Brigham Young universities. He graduated with a Master of Law in taxation from Georgetown University. Matteo’s mom, Tisha Huish, studied tax law at American University, where she got her law degree, and obtained her masters in tax law at Georgetown University.
Matteo won’t be moving onto college right away.
He is taking two years off to serve a mission call from Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Toronto, Canada, speaking in the Persian language. “I’ll be spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ in Persian, which I’m super excited for it.”
In 2026, he plans to attend Georgetown University’s College of Art and Sciences — a full circle moment for his family. He said he’s interested in majoring in biology, public policy or international affairs.
“I have many passions and interests,” he said. “I love talking to different types of people, I love genetics and its capabilities for cures, and I also love singing and acting — but at 17 years old, I am not dead set on a specific path, and I don’t think anyone should.”