Today, Junior Achievement of Greater Washington announced the winners of the 2016 Junior Achievement Essay Competition. This year's competition was intense, as over 1,000 qualified answered this year's question: "George Washington or Dr. Dre: Who would you consider a greater entrepreneur and why?"
Each year, a first, second, and third place winner are selected from each of Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, and are each awarded a $10,000 scholarship. One grand prize winner is selected from all applicants receives a $20,000 scholarship. This year's winners are:
GRAND PRIZE WINNER
Summer Oh
Richard Montgomery High School
Rockville, Maryland
12th Grade
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
FIRST PLACE
Matea Bebic
School Without Walls Senior High School
Washington, DC
11th Grade
SECOND PLACE
Emma Reese
School Without Walls Senior High School
Washington, DC
10th Grade
THIRD PLACE
Tyler Johnson
Benjamin Banneker High School
Washington, DC
11th Grade
MARYLAND
FIRST PLACE
John Merlo-Coyne
Montgomery Blair High School
Silver Spring, Maryland
12th Grade
SECOND PLACE
Josephine Brané-Wright
Montgomery Blair High School
Silver Spring, Maryland
11th Grade
THIRD PLACE
Samuel Norman
Richard Montgomery High School
Rockville, Maryland
11th Grade
VIRGINIA
FIRST PLACE
Mazzen Shalaby
North Stafford High School
Stafford, Virginia
12th Grade
SECOND PLACE
Kurien Thomas
Robinson Secondary School
Fairfax, Virginia
12th Grade
THIRD PLACE
Roslyn Hall-Wurst
Loudoun Valley High School
Purcellville, Virginia
9th Grade
All winning students will be recognized at a private awards ceremony next week. In addition, from each of Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, the school with the greatest number of eligible applications will receive a $6,000 grant. This year's grant recipients are:
District of Columbia - Benjamin Banneker High School
Maryland - Richard Montgomery High School
Virginia - Loudoun Valley High School
The Junior Achievement® Essay Competition, sponsored by David M. Rubenstein, was founded in 2008. Each year, high school students in Greater Washington are invited to write an essay and compete for over $110,000 in college scholarships. Junior Achievement of Greater Washington thanks Mr. Rubenstein for his support and commitment to Junior Achievement.
ABOUT DAVID M. RUBENSTEIN
David M. Rubenstein is Co-CEO of The Carlyle Group, a global alternative asset manager based in Washington, DC. Mr. Rubenstein co-founded the firm in 1987. Since then, Carlyle has grown into a firm managing nearly $200 billion from 40 offices around the world. To honor his many business accomplishments, Mr. Rubenstein was inducted into the Washington Business Hall of Fame in November 2007.