Two seniors from Woodville-Tompkins Technical and Career High School and one senior from New Hampstead High School will be receiving a full ride to college after being named 2023 Gates Millennium Scholars. Jordan Haskell and Mekhi West of Woodville-Tompkins and Taniyah Cheeks of New Hampstead High are three of only 300 students selected nationwide each year for the honor.
Jordan Haskell Mekhi West Taniyah Cheeks
As awardees, they will receive funding for the FULL cost of attendance of their undergraduate tuition.
In addition to support for their undergraduate studies, they will receive mentorship, career services, and leadership training. Additionally, they will receive support towards graduate studies in selected fields.
Woodville-Tompkins has had 4 students chosen to receive this honor. Three within the past 2 years!
They are:
Satchel Holmes-Williams (2015)
Chance McKinnie (2022)
Mekhi West (2023)
Jordan Haskell (2023)
Woodville-Tompkins Principal Alfred McGuire says, “This serves as a testament to the work being done on our campus by our amazing faculty and staff who create an environment conducive for success." Taniyah is the first scholar chosen from New Hampstead High School.
Recipients of this prestigious honor receive:
- Support for the cost of education by covering unmet need and self-help aid.
- Renewable awards for Gates Millennium Scholars maintaining satisfactory academic progress.
- Graduate school funding for continuing Gates Millennium Scholars in the areas of computer science, education, engineering, library science, mathematics, public health or science.
- Leadership development programs with distinctive personal, academic and professional growth opportunities.
The Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) Program, is funded by a $1.6 billion grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It was established in 1999 to provide outstanding low income African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian Pacific Islander American, and Hispanic American students with an opportunity to complete an undergraduate college education in any discipline they choose. Each year it enables 5,000 students to attend and graduate from 800 of the most selective private and public schools in the country, including Ivy League colleges, flagship state universities, UNCF member institutions and other minority-serving institutions.
The GMS program provides recipients with leadership development opportunities, mentoring, academic and social support as well as financial support. The program is known for its recipients' high graduation rates – a six-year rate of more than 87 percent (28 percent higher than the national graduation rates for all students and comparable to the rate for students from high-income families).
To learn more about the Gates Scholarship you may view the video below:
https://youtu.be/5TD2STAoT1o
Or visit their website:
https://www.thegatesscholarship.org/scholarship
