Ten graduating seniors from South Lakes High School each received up to $16,000 from a local scholarship fund this month.

The Reston Scholarship Fund at the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia awarded 10 scholarship to the students, who will be attending Northern Virginia Community College in the fall, on Sunday (June 9).

State Del. Ken Plum (D-36th), Moses Ulom of the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia, and Monica Gomez, an SLHS pathways counselor spoke at the event.

The following students received awards:

• Hadi Abdelhalim
• Mathani Abdelrahman
• Aamina Ahmad
• Arnoldo Alejandro Avalos Alvarenga
• Zayyan Budiman
• Andrea Coca Ventura
• Gisela Hernandez-Estrada
• Priscilla Maradiaga
• Tsiyon Wakjira
• Brenda Yanes

Awards are available for up to six years as long as the student works to attain an undergraduate degree and demonstrates academic merit and financial need.

This is the fourth year the foundation has offered scholarship funding for SLHS graduating seniors. Academic performance, essays, financial need and recommendations are considered in the selection process.

Photo via Liz Blankespoor

Starting today (Feb. 15), South Lakes High School students can apply to the Reston Scholarship Fund of the Community College of Northern Virginia.

Liz Blankespoor, a Restonian and co-founder of the scholarship fund, told Reston Now in an email that the scholarship is currently supporting 22 graduates of South Lakes High School who are working on their post-secondary degrees.

The scholarship awards 10 scholarships each year to seniors planning to attend the community college before transferring to a four-year college.

South Lakes High School senior graduating in June must:

• be attending the Northern Virginia Community College in this fall
• have a GPA of 2.75 or higher
• demonstrate financial need

The scholarships vary amounts, with a possible award of up to $16,000. They are spread over the course of six years and are renewable for students who maintain a GPA at or above 2.75 and continue to demonstrate financial need, Blankespoor wrote.

Submissions are due by May 1.

File photo

Ten graduating South Lakes High School seniors received scholarships from the Reston Scholarship Fund of the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia.

Awards, given for the second time, ranged between $1,000 to $4,000. The fund plans to award up to $16,000 to each of the students distributed over a maximum of six years as the students pursue their undergraduate careers.

A reception for students was held on June 16. Speakers included Kim Retzer, principal of South Lakes High School, Eileen Ellsworth, President and CEO of the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia, and Monica Gomez, a NOVA Pathways Counselor.

Recipients of the award are below:

• Diseye Fiobotei
• Sohale Hessavi
• Abdi Hobor
• Emily Huaroco
• Carla Jovel
• Alexis Lemus
• Abita Mahdi
• Hamdi Shariff
• Hebron Wakjira
• Luis Zevallos Garate

This year’s scholarships were funded by The Sallie Mae Fund and Quadrant, Inc. and other local individuals and companies.

Photo via Elizabeth Blankespoor

Ten graduating South Lakes High School seniors recently became the first honorees of a new scholarship fund that could give them up to $16,000 over a four-year college career.

The Reston Scholarship Fund of the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia awarded $4,000 scholarships to each of the students during a ceremony Saturday at Reston Town Center. The Fund plans to award the same amount in each of three subsequent years the student remains in college and continues to demonstrate need and merit.

Twenty-nine students applied for the scholarship, said Elizabeth Blankespoor on behalf of the Fund.

“We hope that as word spreads and we get more donations, the number of scholarships will increase in future years,” she said. “It is our firm belief that money should not stand between our students and a good education.”

Students honored with the scholarship funding, and the schools they will attend in the fall, are:

• Daniel Ennis, University of Minnesota
• Omer Gorashi, University of Maryland
• Amna Kayani, Virginia Commonwealth University
• Dounia Lazreq, George Washington University
• Emmeline Mejia, Bridgewater College
• Joelle Nkwantchoa Toundji, Christopher Newport University
• Razan Salih, Virginia Tech University
• Rabiya Sharieff, New York University
• Aditya Sorot, University of Virginia
• Qianyi Yang, James Madison University

Speakers at Saturday’s award ceremony included Del. Ken Plum (D-Fairfax); Kim Retzer, SLHS principal; Cheryl Simon, widow of Robert Simon; and Gil Blankespoor on behalf of the Fund.

Students’ GPAs, financial need, essays and recommendations were all considered in the process of the six-member selection committee. The students will also be awarded certificates during South Lakes’ annual Seniors Award Ceremony on June 8.

Gil and Elizabeth Blankespoor founded RSF in 2016 when they received 501(c)(3) status. They joined forces with the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia this year.

The Fund relies entirely on donations to make the scholarships possible. Donations, which are tax-deductible and used fully for the scholarships, can be made online at CF for Nova’s website or by mail to Reston Scholarship Fund — CF of Nova, 2003 Lakeport Way, Reston, VA 20191.

For more information about the scholarship, email [email protected] or call 703-620-6061.

Photos by Elizabeth Blankespoor/Reston Scholarship Fund