Marietta, Metro Atlanta Grads Win Georgia Pacific Scholarship

MARIETTA, GA — Denied a traditional end to their high school careers, three local students received some good news in the form of a Georgia-Pacific Foundation Employees’ Children Scholarship.

Russell Emerine of Walton High School, Emily Howard of Marietta High School, and Emily Fleck of Campbell High School will receive $2,000 per year for up to four years of undergrad study. Each student has a parent who works at Georgia-Pacific’s Atlanta headquarters.

Georgia-Pacific awarded 50 scholarships nationwide after receiving about 300 applications.

“Of course, I’m disappointed that I can’t experience graduation properly or hang out with my friends,” Russell said in a news release. “However, the schedule changes also mean I have more time to focus on my passions like computer science and mathematics. I might miss some time on campus for my first year in college, but I’m thrilled to go to CMU, meet new friends, and learn at a higher level.”

At Walton High School, Russell was the captain of the Varsity Math Team and founder and president of the Computational Linguistics Club. He was one of four members of the U.S. Linguistics team and won a championship in the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL). This fall, he will attend Carnegie Mellon University with plans to study Computer Science in hopes of becoming an artificial intelligence scientist.

Emily's mother, Melanie, said that Marietta High School has "gone above and beyond" to give her and her classmates the best end to senior year possible given the "current circumstances.”

The school hosted a virtual prom and awards night. It also lined the street in front of the school with portraits of the seniors.

Emily Howard co-founded Marietta's Science Club and was a member of the photography and Beta clubs. She plans to study Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Georgia.

Emily Fleck was a member of Campbell High School’s Spanish Honor Society and earned the Georgia Certificate of Merit. She’s also an accomplished ballet dancer, training in the Atlanta Ballet Academy and performing in “The Nutcracker.” She plans to study Biochemistry at Georgia Tech in hopes of becoming a pediatric neurosurgeon.

“It's sad and hard for all the seniors who didn't get to enjoy the last weeks of high school,” Emily's father, Jeff, said, “but I'm proud of how she made the best of the situation and finished strong to complete her International Baccalaureate degree and get ready to start a new chapter of her life in college.”

“The COVID-19 shutdown has cost these young people a huge part of their educational experience,” said Curley M. Dossman, Jr., president of the Georgia-Pacific Foundation. “It is vital that we continue to support their academic success and remind them that their futures remain bright.”

Since the scholarship program began in 1988, Georgia-Pacific has awarded nearly 1,600 scholarships, totaling nearly $13 million.

The program is administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation and is open to children of all active, full-time, U.S.-based employees of Georgia-Pacific.