Today, Junior Achievement of Greater Washington announced the winners of the 2017 Junior Achievement Essay Competition. This year's competition was intense, as over 1,100 qualified answered this year's question: "Several great entrepreneurs, including Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, dropped out of college before getting their degrees. How important do you think a college education is to your future success?"
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
Riya Ashby
Albert Einstein High School
Kensington, Maryland
11th Grade
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
FIRST PLACE
Cara Schultz
The Field School
Washington, DC
11th Grade
SECOND PLACE
Emilia Majersik
Woodrow Wilson High School
Washington, DC
12th Grade
THIRD PLACE
Isaac Frumkin
Woodrow Wilson High School
Washington, DC
12th Grade
MARYLAND
FIRST PLACE
Matthew Evenson
Clarksburg High School
Clarksburg, MD
12th Grade
SECOND PLACE
Amanda Liu
Montgomery Blair High School
Silver Spring, MD
10th Grade
THIRD PLACE
Emily Stein
Winston Churchill High School
Potomac, MD
12th Grade
VIRGINIA
FIRST PLACE
Zoree Jones
Patriot High School
Nokesville, VA
10th Grade
SECOND PLACE
Mike Grimes
The Potomac School
McLean, VA
12th Grade
THIRD PLACE
Fariha Bablu
Washington-Lee High School
Arlington, VA
12th 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 - Paint Branch High School
Virginia - Woodgrove 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.