Southland College Prep Charter High School Seniors' College Scholarships Top $ 1 million

Half of New School's First Graduating Class Receives Early Acceptance to College

RICHTON PARK, Ill., Dec. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Half of the Southland College Prep Charter High School's first commencement class has received early admission to top-ranked colleges and universities. To date, the new charter secondary school's seniors have been awarded $1.2 million in college scholarship and merit funds.

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"Southland seniors have been accepted on an early admission basis to 40 colleges and universities to date, including 22 private institutions," said Ron Anderson, the school's college counselor.

"Among the acceptances, are nine of U.S. News & World Report's 50 top colleges and universities: Columbia, Vanderbilt, Pittsburgh, St. John's, Purdue, Monmouth, Kings College, Coe College and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business," he said.  

 Ian Katiku, 17, of Park Forest and Asia Jenkins, 17, of Olympia Fields, each received scholarships valued at $260,000 for four years of undergraduate studies at Columbia University and Vanderbilt University respectively.

Jenkins, a member of Southland's National Honor Society chapter, plans to pursue chemical engineering.  Outside of her high school activities, she has been an active participant in Girls4Science and Project Syncere.

Katiku, a native of Nairobi Kenya, is treasurer of Southland's National Honor Society chapter and  active in the school's Interact Club.  He is also an award-winning member of Southland's speech team. Last year, Katiku   placed 2^nd in Impromptu Public Speaking in the IHSA Regional tournament and took third place in Extemporaneous Speaking. He plans to pursue a career in finance and economics.

A dozen of their classmates earned four-year renewable scholarships averaging $ 52,000 each and others have received as much as $25,000 from colleges and universities.

"News of such excellent accomplishments, coming as it does in this season of promise and prophecy, is an affirmation of everything I've believed in throughout my own life and professional career," said Dr. Blondean Davis, CEO of Southland College Prep.

For many of our students, they will be the first in their family to achieve the goal of earning a college degree, she said.  

"These college scholarship awards aren't just about money—they offer something far more valuable—a hope for a future," she said.

About Southland College Prep Charter High School

Southland College Prep, which serves nine south suburban Chicago communities, opened in August, 2010. It is the only public charter high school in Chicago's suburbs. Students are selected by public lottery for the 500 places capped by the Illinois State Board of Education.  

Southland is located on eight acres in a three-story, 85,000 square foot, state-of-the art learning center with small class sizes, an extended nine-hour school day and a college prep curriculum which emphasizes math, science, technology, foreign languages and fine arts.

SOURCE Southland College Prep