Alpharetta, Milton Students Win $8,000 Scholarships

From JBR Communications: Three local high school graduates have been selected as recipients of a Georgia-Pacific Foundation Employees’ Children Scholarship. Allyson Gaines of Cambridge Hign School in Milton, Gwen Cothran of the Rockdale Magnet School for Science and Technology, and Anita Ramanathan of Alpharetta High School are among the 50 nationwide winners of scholarships for children of GP employees.

Allyson is the daughter of Charles and Diana Gaines. Charles is vice-president of bleached board sales for Georgia-Pacific. At Cambridge High School, Allyson was a state medalist in the Future Business Leaders of America, as well as president of the French Honor Society and secretary of the Social Studies Honor Society. This fall, Allyson will attend Dartmouth College where she will study government and international relations.

Gwen is the daughter of John and Anne Cothran. John is a development chemist for Georgia-Pacific Chemicals in Decatur. Gwen was in the top three-percent of her class while completing 11 AP courses. She was a member of the National Honor Society and president of the Book Club and Reading Bowl. Gwen will attend University of Alabama in Huntsville where she wants to study Chemistry and Mathematics in hopes of becoming a forensic scientist.

Anita is the daughter of Ram and Umayal Ramanathan. Ram is the Director of Manufacturing Strategy for Georgia-Pacific. At Alpharetta High School, Anita was president of the National English Honors Society and member of the varsity tennis team. This fall, Anita will attend the University of Georgia, where she will study biology in hopes of becoming a physician. She is getting a taste of the medical profession by volunteering in the GI and Endoscopy Departments at Northside Hospital.

The Georgia-Pacific Foundation Scholarship Program for Employees’ Children awards $2,000 per year for up to four years of full-time college undergraduate study or until baccalaureate degree requirements are completed, whichever occurs first, for a total maximum award of $8,000.

“Education has long been a cornerstone of our giving philosophy and awarding these scholarships to Georgia-Pacific families is particularly gratifying,” said Curley M. Dossman, Jr., president of the Georgia-Pacific Foundation. “We wish these students and future leaders continued academic success.”

Since the scholarship program began in 1988, Georgia-Pacific has awarded 1,500 scholarships totaling $12.2 million. The program is administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation and is open to children of all active, full-time employees of Georgia-Pacific in the United States. More than 300 applications were received for the 2017 scholarship program.

Photos courtesy of JBR Communications (Cambridge High School graduate Allyson Gaines, Rockdale Magnet School graduate Gwen Cothran, and Alpharetta High School graduate Anita Ramanathan have each won an $8,000 college scholarship from Georgia-Pacific. They are pictured with Georgia-Pacific President and CEO Christian Fischer (right) and Georgia-Pacific Foundation President Curley Dossman (left).)