SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Comcast Foundation, founded in 1999 to provide charitable support to its local communities and to empower and enrich lives, honored the 2015 Utah recipients of its annual Leaders and Achievers Scholarship Ceremony at the Utah State Capitol Rotunda today.
Comcast provided 36 Utah students with $60,000 in college scholarships through the 2015 Leaders and Achievers Scholarship Program. Ten of the winning students were also given a laptop computer to use at college.
“These students are our future leaders and we are excited to award them scholarships,” said Merlin Jensen, Area Vice President of Operations for Comcast. “Comcast awards scholarships to students who demonstrate leadership abilities in school activities, reflect a strong commitment to community service and have high academic standards. We hope the scholarships will help these students as they pursue their dreams for success.”
Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox was the keynote speaker at the Comcast Leaders and Achievers Ceremony which was held at the Utah State Capitol Rotunda. Following the ceremony students and their families were taken on a tour of the State Capitol building.
The Comcast Leaders and Achievers Scholarship Program provides one-time $1,000 scholarships to students who strive to achieve their potential, who are catalysts for positive change in their communities, who are involved in their schools, and who serve as models for their fellow students. This year, four of the students were surprised with $5,000 President's scholarships, and one student was surprised with a $10,000 Founder scholarship at the ceremony. The $5,000 scholarship winners included Natalie Lefrandt from American Fork High School, Jess Gillman from Wasatch High School, Robert Buckley from Skyline High School and Keaton Wall from Bountiful High School. The $10,000 scholarship winner was Isabel Torres from Rowland Hall.
The philosophy behind the program is to give young people every opportunity to be prepared for the future, to engage youth in their communities, and to demonstrate the importance of civic involvement, and the value placed on civic involvement by the business community.
The Comcast Leaders and Achievers Scholarship Program was launched nationally in 2001, and Comcast has awarded nearly $22.8 million in scholarships to help nearly 23,000 high school students throughout the country to pursue their higher education goals.
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2015 Comcast Leaders and Achievers Scholarship Recipients |
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| Student | High School | City | ||||
| Alexandria Hawley | Fremont High School | Farr West | ||||
| Ana Daniela Soto | Granger High School | West Valley City | ||||
| Baylee Smith | Bingham High School | South Jordan | ||||
| Carlos Lopez | Syracuse High School | Syracuse | ||||
| Catherine Havens | Payson High School | Payson | ||||
| Claudia Loayza | Herriman High School | South Jordan | ||||
| Esther Parker | Cottonwood High School | Salt Lake City | ||||
| Evelin Nunez | Hunter High School | West Valley City | ||||
| Gabriel Freeman | Juan Diego Catholic High School | Draper | ||||
| Isabel Torres | Rowland Hall | Layton | ||||
| Jacob Warner | Lone Peak High School | Alpine | ||||
| Jesse Gillman | Wasatch High School | Heber City | ||||
| Jesus Robles | American Preparatory Academy | West Valley | ||||
| Johnson Huynh | Academy for Math, Engineering & Science | Salt Lake City | ||||
| Joshua White | Jordan Applied Tech | South Jordan | ||||
| Keaton Wall | Bountiful High School | Bountiful | ||||
| Kellie Heder | Tooele High School | Tooele | ||||
| Malia Pena | Utah County Academy of Sciences | Cedar Hills | ||||
| Melissa Ivie | Copper Hills High School | West Jordan | ||||
| Micah Payan | Layton Christian Academy | Kaysville | ||||
| Michael Conn | Roy High School | Roy | ||||
| Muhammed Kariparduc | Beehive Science & Tech Academy | Sandy | ||||
| Nahomi Jimenez | Hillcrest High School | Sandy | ||||
| Natalie Lefrandt | American Fork High School | American Fork | ||||
| Natasha Aguilar | Northern Utah Academy for Math, Engineering and Science | West Point | ||||
| Nicole Arteaga | West High School | Salt Lake City | ||||
| Quinn Graves | Park City High School | Park City | ||||
| Robert Buckley | Skyline High School | Sandy | ||||
| Samira Gholami | Bonneville High School | Ogden | ||||
| Samuel Ahanonu | West Jordan High School | West Jordan | ||||
| Sarah Winder | Stansbury High School | Stansbury Park | ||||
| Sarah Farnsworth | Alta High School | Draper | ||||
| Simon Davies | Intech Collegiate High School | Logan | ||||
| Tamerra Sedacy | Ben Lomond High School | Ogden | ||||
| Xiadani Varela | Kearns High School | Salt Lake City | ||||
| Zachary Scott | Summit Academy High School | Holladay | ||||
About the Comcast Foundation
The Comcast Foundation was founded by Comcast Corporation in June 1999 to provide charitable support to qualified non-profit organizations. The Foundation primarily invests in programs intended to have a positive, sustainable impact on their communities. The Foundation’s focus areas are volunteerism, literacy, and youth leadership development. Since its inception, the Comcast foundation has donated more than $64 million to organizations in the communities nationwide that Comcast serves. More information about the Foundation and its programs is available at www.comcast.com/inthecommunity.