As we first presented in the May/June 2021 issue, local businesses award thousands of dollars in scholarships every year to Cobb County students. Since May, news of more scholarships has reached our desks, so we wanted to share the information with you. Congratulations to these students; they persevered through an incredibly tough school year.
Credit Union of Georgia Awards $1,000 Scholarship to Marietta High School Student
In May, Credit Union of Georgia awarded Sophie Edwards at $1,000 scholarship in connection with the Marietta Schools Foundation for her essay on “How #DoYouCU making a difference?”
When creating a scholarship for the Marietta Schools Foundation the Credit Union wanted to award a student who cares about their community and is making a difference in the future. Edwards received raving recommendations from her teachers, possessed great grades throughout her high school career, but what stuck out most was her desire to help children and end chronic hunger in the community.
Edwards began working to end chronic childhood hunger in kindergarten when she learned a classmate was participating in the free and reduced lunch program. From then on, she dedicated her time to the cause by providing more than 3,000 meals for summer lunch programs, raising more than $10,000 through five bake sales, speaking at multiple fundraising events, volunteering over 2,100 hours, forming the Square Meal Project when she was only eight years old, and recently repurposing a retired school bus to create a mobile food pantry and summer meal delivery service with Marietta City Schools.
“I love to help children reach their fullest potential,” wrote Edwards in her “How #DoYouCU making a difference?” essay. With a desire to help others, she has decided to pursue a career in medicine to serve underserved communities. Edwards will be attending the University of Georgia in the fall to begin her journey towards her dream.
Osborne High School Student Earns Scholarships & Will Attend Chattahoochee Tech This Fall
Osborne High School student Jared Mendoza is a first-generation college student attending Chattahoochee Technical College this fall. Her mother and 5th-grade sister were at Osborne when Mendoza learned she was the recipient of a $1,000 Cobb Schools Foundation scholarship, as well as a $3,272 scholarship recognizing her overall success and perseverance.
During Mendoza’s scholarship interview, she attributed her success to her mother and her Spanish teacher at Osborne, Kerae Joonsar. She shared that her teacher inspired her to continue learning and striving for the next level of success because she was capable of continuing her success. “My Spanish teacher always told me I could do more,” Mendoza said.
The Cobb Schools Foundation spent the last week of the school year recognizing and awarding scholarships to exceptional students, like Mendoza. An independent scholarship committee that works out of the Cobb Schools Foundation Board spends hundreds of hours reviewing, scoring, interviewing, and selecting up to two scholarship recipients from each of Cobb’s 17 high schools. They also review and score finalists from several other donor-funded scholarships as well.
In addition to the Cobb Schools Foundation scholarship, Jared also earned the special Perseverance Scholarship Award, funded by Dr. Jaha Howard, who set the objective to find a student who displayed grit and the will to persevere despite life’s curveballs. “We all have moments in life that can determine our next steps for the better or worse. This scholarship was designed to award an outstanding student who really has the grit to keep going,” Dr. Howard shared.
Another scholarship awarded by Dr. Howard went to Chibuzo Ibuoffor of South Cobb High School. He is the first recipient of the Spanish-speaking Future Teacher Scholarship worth $4,909 and is attending Georgia Tech this summer. “We are always so grateful to our community of supporters who believe in our students. We want our students to know that people in our community care about them and their achievements and are willing to support them in big ways,” said Felicia Wagner, executive director of the Cobb Schools Foundation.
South Cobb Business Association Awards Two Scholarships
Marissa Salett of Pebblebrook High School and Achusim Nnyagu of South Cobb High School each earned $500 in college scholarship funds from the South Cobb Business Association (SCBA). The SCBA developed its scholarship program five years ago to provide scholarships to students at these two schools. Each year, one student from each school is awarded a scholarship to assist with their college tuition.
Salett maintained a 4.19 GPA and will be attending Bard College this fall. Nnyagu earned a 3.7 GPA and will be attending Kennesaw State University.
Powder Springs Business Group Awards Two $500 Scholarships
The Powder Springs Business Group awarded two, $500 Workforce Scholarships to graduating seniors from McEachern and Hillgrove High Schools. These students, Oje Addeh (McEachern) and Zachary Martin (Hillgrove) have committed to attending a Technical College System of Georgia school.
