(Press Release) LAS VEGAS, June 6, 2012–At a recent luncheon held at the Venetian, five outstanding Southern Nevada high school student scholars and leaders received financial assistance to pursue their dreams of higher education through Papa John’s “A Better Slice for Education” Scholarship Program.Designed to support education and strengthen community ties with students, schools, parents and teachers, Las Vegas Valley high school seniors Shelby Bagley, Stephanie Chen-Huynh, Adwoa Fosu, Brooklyn Nenneman and Jocelyn Sanchez became the first recipients of Papa John’s “A Better Slice for Education” Scholarship Program each receiving $1,000.
“Papa John’s is the quality leader and our first class of scholarship winners represents the best and brightest of today’s youth and tomorrow’s leaders,” said Jim Polito, Papa John’s Director of Operations. “With educational resources shrinking, we launched ‘A Better Slice for Education’ last year and committed to helping Las Vegas Valley high school seniors pursue a higher education.”
2012 Papa John’s “A Better Slice for Education” Scholarship Recipients
Shelby Bagley, Coronado High School, 3.5 GPA
She is on track to graduate with advanced honors. At college Shelby plans to major in speech pathology and audiology and wants to work with the hearing impaired upon graduation. Raised by a single mother, Shelby shares, “during my community service at Camp SignShine, I realized by bringing happiness [to others] I brought happiness to my life.”
Stephanie Chen-Huynh, Veterans Tribute Career & Technical Academy, 4.8 GPA, class rank #1
Stephanie is a valedictorian candidate who focused on crime scene investigation at the academy. She completed an internship at the coroner’s office and volunteers at the local police department and Spring Valley Library. Stephanie says, “the greatest accomplishment is being able to say that I am one person in the world, but I am one person that can contribute something.” She plans to study criminal justice at University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV).
Adwoa Fosu, Liberty High School, 4.7 GPA
She is involved in Advanced Placement club, environmental awareness club and has received awards as a scholar-athlete and Sun Youth Forum African-American scholar. Adwoa volunteers at Odyssey Hospice working with terminally ill patients. “The patients have taught me that life is something we should never take for granted and we should not judge other people because we are unaware of what they are going through in their lives,” she shares. Adwoa will attend UNLV and major in education.
Brooklyn Nenneman, Shadow Ridge High School, 4.6 GPA
She is senior class president, a member of the cross-country and swim teams and president of her church youth group. In addition to working since she was 15 due to necessity, Brooklyn has led community canned food drives, served the homeless and volunteered for the Special Olympics. Recently she tutored a mentally handicapped student and was inspired to declare elementary education as her major at Brigham Young University in the fall.
Jocelyn Sanchez, Valley High School, 4.5 GPA
Jocelyn has participated in community service projects and volunteered at Lied Discovery Children’s Museum and Three Square Food Bank. She will graduate high school with an International Baccalaureate degree. Jocelyn shares, “going to the museum and Three Square became my highlights. I realized that volunteering became the thing that I looked forward to doing.” She will study engineering at UNLV.
Held on May 25, The Public Education Foundation celebrated the 13th Annual Scholarship Recognition Luncheon at the Venetian awarding 426 scholarships to Southern Nevada high school seniors totaling $600,000.
