Three students win full JSA scholarship

Three students—one each from Rota High School, Saipan Southern High School, and Marianas High School—are the recipients of 2005 scholarship grants from the Department of the Interior for the Junior Statesmen Summer School program.

Office of Insular Affairs’ Jeff Schorr awarded Charlie Atalig from Rota High School, Ferleen Esmundo from Saipan Southern High School, and Semona Igama from Marianas High School their scholarship grant certificates last Monday night at the Pizza Hut restaurant along Middle Road.

The three students will get full tuition scholarship worth $3,765 plus free roundtrip transportation to the university destination of their choice. Atalig would go to Stanford University, while the two others would go to Yale University.

Mount Carmel High School student Caisha Sablan made it to the runner-up list.

Almost 40 junior high school students and their proud parents gathered at the restaurant Monday night to witness the announcement of the winners and to get answers as to what their children can expect when they get to their universities of choice.

Monthlong sessions of the Junior Statesmen Summer School program are conducted in prestigious university campuses of Stanford, Northwestern, Princeton, Yale and Georgetown.

The summer school students will take college-level courses in American government and speech, as well as programs that will develop and polish their leadership skills.

Program coordinator Christi Omengebar said the sessions will be highlighted by a high-level speakers program, which gives students a chance to meet and question legislators, other elected officials, judges, reporters, political campaign consultants, and others in the political arena. She said each night the students would debate controversial political issues in a simulation of Congress.

The selection for admission to the summer school program is competitive, said Schorr. Admission decisions are based on academic achievement, leadership, and interest in politics or government.

The applicants submitted a copy of their transcript, a three-page personal essay and an academic recommendation.

Parents were delighted when Omengebar announced that Continental Airlines is offering reduced airfare rates for other students attending the summer school program. She thanked Katie Black, promotional sales officer of Continental, for the “wonderful news.”

For the past 80 years, the local government allocated funds to pay part or all of the summer school program’s tuition for local students who did not receive the DOI full scholarship. Last year the government provided a $50,000 funding for the program.

There are 29 other students who made it to the JSA summer school program and they are Edward Camacho, Emily Jang, Nathaniel J. Algaier, Steven Johnson, Stephanie Ann Arnold, Nicholas Shoemake, Rafferty Jess Dris, Nicole Torres, Tawny Palacios, Michelle Milagroso, Sheila Ann Ho, Jonathan Ada, Virginia Castro, Ralph Benaventura, Jennifer Benavente, Sara Ko, Min Kyoung Kim, Marilou Gariguez, Jacqueline Cepeda, Matthew Deleon Guerrero, Travis Calvo, Halina Palacios, Roberto Naraja, John Del Rosario, Nicollete Villagomez, Gretchen Smith, Erlyn Dalan, Madeline Jacob, and Edward Sablan.