Two of the five Arizona semifinalist nominees for the 2023-2024 U.S. Presidential Scholars in Career and Technical Education are Dysart Schools students.

The nominees are Trystan Wright from Dysart High School and Haley Helman from Shadow Ridge High School.  

Wright is a senior who has focused on the marketing strand of CTE throughout his high school career. He hopes to pursue a degree in hospitality and tourism management at Ohio State University and work in the tourism industry.

He has a 4.07 GPA and has been an officer of DECA the past two years. He is CEO of the Hotspot SBE school store, was a DECA International qualifier for the past two years, and has completed the WBLA Internship program.  

 “To me, CTE has quickly become my life," Wright said. "It has shaped the person I am today and allowed me to discover a passion I never imagined I would enjoy. DECA has provided me with the necessary skills to interact with the world around me in a professional and personal capacity as well as providing me opportunities to succeed. I have been able to travel the U.S. through DECA and network with students and business leaders from across the country.”   

Helman has taken all of the engineering courses offered at Shadow Ridge and is now studying biomedical science through a West-MEC partnership.

After graduation, she plans to attend Valparaiso University and become a biomedical engineer with a focus on building medical equipment like prosthetics.

She has a 3.99 GPA and is involved in the National Society of High School Scholars and the Girl Scouts. Haley is also a member of HOSA and is the chair of communications for her biomedical program. 

"Haley is a student that reliably takes care of her own work and is willing to help others," said West-MEC Biomedical Science instructor Lynsy Butler. “She has always followed through with anything that she is committed to and is someone that her classmates know they can rely on. Haley is one of my top students, both in and out of the classroom.” 

The office of the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction submitted five nominees from across the state to the Commission on Presidential Scholars at the U.S. Department of Education.

Each nominee is invited to apply for the National Review by the Commission, and of those, only twenty will be selected as winners. Students were selected by a review team of CTE stakeholders based on academic rigor, technical competence, professional employability skills, ingenuity and creativity. 

Dysart Schools currently offers 19 Career and Technical Education programs across four high school campuses, and partners with West-MEC to provide additional opportunities to students.

Learn more at Dysart.org/CTE.