Washington, D.C. — Today, Junior Achievement of Greater Washington announced the winners of the 2018 Junior Achievement Essay Competition. This year's competition was intense, with over 1,600 submissions addressing this year's prompt: "What would make your high school experience more relevant to your future?”
A first, second, and third place winner are selected from each of Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia and are awarded a $10,000 scholarship. One grand prize winner is selected from all applicants and receives a $20,000 scholarship. This year's winners are:
GRAND PRIZE WINNER
CJ Bartolozzi
Saint Albans School
Washington, DC
11th Grade
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
FIRST PLACE
Emma Reese
School Without Walls
12th Grade
SECOND PLACE
Sari Finn
Saint John’s College High School
12th Grade
THIRD PLACE
Maya Ginyard
Benjamin Banneker
11th Grade
MARYLAND
FIRST PLACE
Anna Cappellina
Albert Einstein
North Kensington, MD
11th Grade
SECOND PLACE
Lydia Wei
Richard Montgomery
Rockville, MD
11th Grade
THIRD PLACE
Emily Feigen
Winston Churchill High School
Potomac, MD
12th Grade
VIRGINIA
FIRST PLACE
Joseph Maraska
Wakefield School
The Plains, VA
11th Grade
SECOND PLACE
Cortlyn Yeargin
South County
Lorton, VA
12th Grade
THIRD PLACE
Stephania Jugo
Loudoun Valley
Purcellville, VA
10th Grade
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.
ABOUT JA OF GREATER WASHINGTON
Junior Achievement of Greater Washington is a non-profit organization that is changing the game for our region’s youth with relevant experiential education in financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship. We bring together school systems, business leaders and trained mentor volunteers to provide equal access to the tools, people and experiences all youth need to be 100% prepared for real life in the real world. That means students gain what matters most: control over their own lives, futures and careers.