By Nisqually Valley News staff
Yelm High School (YHS) senior Sophia Mohrweis has been named a semi-finalist for the prestigious United States Presidential Scholars Program, and is one of 671 students across the U.S. to earn this honor.
Specifically, she is one of 74 students to be named a semi-finalist in the arts category of the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program. Mohrweis is the third semi-finalist for the program in recent YHS history — with the two most recent being nominated in 2023. One of the nominees went on to be a finalist.
Each year, YHS is allowed to submit four students to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) for consideration, including two in the “overall achievement” category, one in the “CTE” category and one in the “arts” category.
OSPI chose 10 students from Washington in the overall category, five in the CTE category and five in the arts category to be considered as candidates. Four YHS students were chosen, including Wohrweis, Madelyn Lawson and Kolton Nash in the “overall achievement” category and Sofie Miera in the “CTE” category.
It was recently announced that Mohrweis was selected as a semi-finalist.
According to a media release from YHS, Mohrweis’ motivation to create is both “intrinsic and enduring.” The release wrote that even when school-based programs that aligned closely with her future college and career pathways — such as theater and film — were reduced or eliminated, she continued to seek, build and sustain creative opportunities for herself and others.
“Rather than allowing these barriers to diminish her artistic growth, Sophia consistently found ways to keep creating,” the release wrote. “Her commitment to the performing arts began in early childhood through children’s productions at her church and continued through formal training and community engagement. She participated in improvisation and musical theater programs with Taproot Theatre in Seattle beginning in 2017, returning repeatedly over the years for music reviews, intensive camps, and fully staged productions.”
The productions included a two-week musical theater “super camp” producing Frozen Jr., where she was cast as young Anna, as well as several Taproom productions like “The Sound of Music Jr.,” “Oliver! Jr.,” “Annie Jr.,” and “The Music Man Jr.”
“Her sustained involvement over many summers reflects a deep internal drive to remain engaged in theater regardless of external circumstances,” the release wrote. “At Yelm High School, Sophia continued to pursue performance opportunities throughout her
high school career, taking on roles such as Jetsam in “The Little Mermaid,” multiple character roles in “Clue!” and “Seussical the Musical,” in which she also served as Dance Captain.”
Additionally. Mohrweis has performed as Tweedle Dee in “Alice in Wonderland.”
When the YHS drama program was significantly reduced due to funding cuts, Mohrweis did not disengage. Instead, according to the release, she stepped into leadership roles and served as the YHS Drama Club Vice President and assumed the responsibilities of President when the elected president “became overcommitted.”
“Sophia demonstrated extraordinary motivation when the club’s advisor unexpectedly left mid-summer and the future of the program became uncertain,” the release wrote. “She organized off-campus meetings with fellow officers, developed multiple contingency plans for the year since they had to scrap the planned production of Romeo and Juliet, communicated directly with school administrators, and helped identify and secure a new advisor.”
Additionally, the club was only allowed to function for “a short while” during the beginning of the school year before it was completely shut down.
“Even after the club was officially shut down, Sophia continued organizing informal meetings and sharing theater opportunities within the Yelm and Thurston County area so students could remain connected to the arts,” the release wrote. “Her motivation to create extends beyond traditional theater. Sophia recently won her schoolwide Poetry Out Loud competition and advanced to the Southwest Washington regional level (she competes on 1/24), demonstrating her continued pursuit of performance-based storytelling.”
Mohrweis is also a member of the Yelm FFA Agriculture Issues competition team, where she assists in writing and performing an original script that addresses the tension between profit and environmental impact in Washington state’s agricultural industries. She also works as a student advisor for a local community theater’s high school program and continues to recruit former drama students to participate, even when productions are delayed or halted due to “external factors.”
“Across every setback — program cuts, canceled productions, and lost institutional support — Sophia’s response has been the same: she keeps creating,” the release wrote. “Her sustained motivation, resilience, and commitment to artistic expression reflect a deep personal calling to the arts and a determination to pursue her creative path regardless of circumstance.”
