EAST ORANGE, NJ — Four East Orange STEM Academy seniors have been awarded $40,000 scholarships from Amazon.
“Every year, I continue to be inspired by our scholarship recipients’ academic achievements and drive to use their problem-solving abilities to build solutions for their communities,” said Victor Reinoso, global director of Philanthropic Education Initiatives at Amazon, “With students from historically underrepresented and underserved communities representing only 18% of CS bachelor’s degrees, we believe that connecting students to computer science education and opportunities helps create a more equitable and inclusive future, across all industries and sectors, for generations to come.”
The East Orange recipients include: Daniella Barron, who will be attending Rutgers University; Serena Bazilio, who will be going to the University of Southern California; Gael Fievre, who will be studying at Northeastern University in Boston; and Alisa Phill, who plans to study at Rutgers.
“The Amazon Scholarship program has provided a great opportunity for our students to continue to dream big and remain focused on their goals,” said Vincent Stallings, the principal of East Orange STEM Academy. “As a school community we’re very proud of student recipients and humbled by this opportunity.”
This year, Amazon awarded 400 scholarships, providing a total of $16 million in paid tuition for students to attend the U.S. college or university of their choice.
Through Amazon Future Engineer, their global philanthropic education initiative, each student will receive $40,000 over four years to pursue a degree in computer science or engineering and a paid internship after their freshman year to gain practical work experience with mentorship from Amazon leaders.
Scholarship recipients applied for the opportunity and were selected based on academic achievement, demonstrated leadership, community involvement, work experience, future goals, and financial need, according to a press release from the school.
This year’s cohort, which includes high school seniors from nearly 40 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, is the most diverse yet with representation from groups that are currently underrepresented in jobs related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). More than 70% of these students identify as Black, Latino, and Native American, and 50% identify as a woman or nonbinary, the release said.
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