Campbell High Student Wins Gates Millennium Scholarship

Out of 54,000 applicants nationwide, one Campbell High School student has been selected to receive the Gates Millennium Scholarship.

Senior Queentela Benjamin is among the 1,000 winners of the prestigious scholarship, which is funded by a $1.6 billion grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

"The program is known for its recipients' high graduation rates – a six-year rate of 86 percent (38 percent higher than the national graduation rates for all students) and comparable to the rates for students from high-income families," Gates Millennium Scholars Program spokeswoman Mary Williams said in a news release announcing the winners.

The UNCF Gates Millennium Scholars Program is open to African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian Pacific Islander American and Hispanic American students with a demonstrated record of scholastic achievement, leadership and community service.

The amount of the scholarship varies, and is based on financial need, the cost of tuition, fees, books and living expenses for the 2013-2014 academic year, as well as the availability of grants and other scholarships reported on the financial aid award letter.

In all, five of this year's Gates scholars are products of the Cobb County School District. Three of the winners—Brittany Davis, Halimo Hassen and Nnennia Mazagwu—will graduate next Friday from nearby South Cobb High. Jayson Toweh of Kennesaw Mountain High was that school's recipient.

Another winner, Christopher Lee of the McCallie School, a private boys boarding school and day school in Chattanooga, Tenn., is from Kennesaw, according to the release from the Gates Millennium Scholars Program.

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