The San Diego Air & Space Museum announced Tuesday that it awarded scholarships worth a combined $51,000 to 13 graduating high school seniors.
The awards are handed out annually on behalf of four museum-administered scholarship endowment funds — the Bill Gibbs, Convair Alumni Association, R.A. Rearwin and Jennings Kelly Scarborough funds. The museum also awards an annual scholarship to an outstanding student pursuing a degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics.
“These scholarship programs exemplify our intent to aid deserving students wanting to advance their education — our entire mission is all about inspiring our next greatest generations to excel in their lives,” said Jim Kidrick, museum president and CEO.
The honorees were:
— David Pepper, St. Augustine High School, who will attend Dartmouth College;
— Aanchal Mehndiratta, Westview High School, UCLA;
— Victoria Nagorski, San Pasqual High School, Texas A&M;
— Cole Parsons, Cathedral Catholic High School, Purdue;
— Max Adler, Point Loma High School, UC Santa Cruz;
— David Hickman, Scripps Ranch High School, UC San Diego;
— Nicholas Johnston, San Dieguito Academy, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo;
— Sarah Martin, Escondido High School, UCSD;
— Sloan Quessenberry, University City High School, USC;
— Emily Sardina, University City High School, UCLA;
— Aliasgar Badani, Mt. Carmel High School, UC Riverside;
— Miles Kiefer, Foothills Christian High School, San Diego State; and
— Jonathan Lansang, Del Norte High School, UC Berkeley.
Each of the scholars submitted an extensive application, listing their academic achievements, their extracurricular and community service activities, several teacher recommendations and an essay. They were then interviewed by a panel of judges to determine the final winners.
To date, 281 talented San Diego County high school seniors have been awarded a total of $810,000 through the museum scholarships.
—City News Service
