Local Gwinnett County Students Share In $1 Million Scholarship Money

Five students from the local area were recipients of scholarships from the $1 million Gwinnett County Public Schools received after winning the Broad Prize last year.

Recipients from were Dionnet Bhatti, Candice Cobb and Jeshua Pope, from Anna Hunter and from Senae Jones. In addition, Farida Bana, Dione Duc, Mahnoor Hassan, Dominique McLeod, Mary Nguyen Alexander Steahr and Iana Stoijic from Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology also received scholarships from the Broad Prize. In total, 51 Gwinnett students from 17 schools benefited from the scholarship money.

“They were selected based on the recommendations of an independent application review committee comprised of admissions, enrollment and financial aid professionals from colleges and universities,” Gwinnett County Public Schools spokesman Jorge Quintana said in a press release.

GCPS was awarded the money after winning the 2010 Broad Prize for Urban Education from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. The Broad Prize is awarded annually to the urban school district that demonstrates the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement while reducing income and ethnic achievement gaps. The previous year GCPS was also in the running but came up short, taking home $250,000 in scholarship money. However, in 2010 the school district was the big winner.

“Although the Broad Prize recognizes urban school district efforts on the whole, the beneficiaries of the Broad Prize funds are the students themselves,” Quintana said.

Graduating seniors from Broad Prize winning and finalist districts are eligible for two- or four-year scholarships, depending on the type of higher education institution they choose to attend. Students who enroll in four-year colleges receive $20,000 scholarships paid out over four years ($5,000 per year). Students who enroll in two-year colleges or technical programs receive $5,000 scholarships paid out over two years ($2,500 per year).

Qintana said the Broad Prize scholarship program is administered by Scholarship America.

The students who received these scholarships are scheduled to be recognized for the achievement at the May 19 Gwinnett County Board of Education meeting.

A reception will be held for the students, their families and principals at 6:15 p.m. at the Instructional Support Center at 437 Old Peachtree Road NW in Suwanee prior to the meeting.