Bob Jones seniors offered $28.6 million in scholarships

Bob Jones class of 2014 gathers on the floor of the Von Braun Center for commencement exercises. (RECORD PHOTO/NICK SELLERS)

MADISON – The Class of 2014 at Bob Jones High School topped the school’s record with more than $28.6 million in scholarship offers.

From that total, Bob Jones seniors accepted $12.2 million in scholarships. “Fifty-eight percent of the seniors were offered scholarships,” Bob Jones College and Career Advisor Sheila Roberts said.

Clara Wan is the 2014 valedictorian, and Morgan Price is salutatorian. “Clara was accepted to the EMSAP (Early Medical School Acceptance Program) awarded to only 12 students in the country at the University of Alabama at Birmingham,” Roberts said.

Price will attend Auburn University with the Blount Presidential Scholarship.

Students were accepted at Yale, Stanford, Cornell, Duke, Vanderbilt, Brown, Dartmouth, Emory, Northwestern and Vassar universities and the universities of Pennsylvania and Southern California.

On the ACT, 126 seniors at Bob Jones scored 30 or above (or SAT equivalent). “That’s nearly 22 percent of the class,” Roberts said.

Daniel Lang was selected as an U.S. Presidential Scholar, one of the most prestigious honors for a high school senior. Only seniors with exceptionally high ACT or SAT scores are eligible. Other Bob Jones students invited to apply were Sarah Buckelew, Cassidy Elliott, David Gunther, Daniel Lang, Olivia McCoy, Mugdha Mokashi and Clara Wan.

Principal Robby Parker enthusiastically recognized these seniors at Awards Night and graduation.

In another school record, 34 students received athletic scholarships.

Finalists for the Achievement Scholarship, conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, were Adetokunbo Ayokanmbi and Gabrielle Daso.

Eighteen seniors qualified as National Merit Semifinalist, and all advanced to finalist status: Aaron Barr, Sarah Bignault, Alexandra Brown, Aaron Burruss, Matthew Copeland, Amanda Darnell, Gabrielle Daso, Dennis Dergunov, Cassidy Elliott, David Gunther, Alexis Helton, Benjamin Keith, Daniel Lang, Mugda Mokashi, Caralyn Patton, Nicholas Sieja, Elise Stone and Clara Wan.

Christian Hess earned an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Six students received ROTC scholarships.

Mugdha Mokashi earned the Patriot Award for exemplary character that best defines a Bob Jones student.