Sixteen high school seniors from throughout Arizona have been named winners in the Phoenix Suns Charities’ SunStudents Scholarship program. Fifteen of the students will receive a $2,000 scholarship to be used for educational expenses at the college or university of their choice.
In addition, Taylor Sanders of Desert Ridge High School was named winner of the Kevin Johnson Scholar Award and will receive a $5,000 scholarship. The announcement was made at halftime during tonight’s (Monday, April 16) Suns-Trail Blazers game at US Airways Center.
The scholarship, named for the Suns’ former All-Star point guard Kevin Johnson, was created in recognition of Johnson’s retirement and honors the spirit of learning and community service espoused by Johnson during his tenure with the Phoenix Suns. This season marks the ninth year the Kevin Johnson award has been presented.
“Phoenix Suns Charities’ scholarship committee was overwhelmed by the number of impressive applications we received this year,” said Robin Milne, Executive Director of Phoenix Suns Charities. “The sixteen recipients have displayed not only stellar academic efforts, but have dedicated countless hours to community service.”
More than 300 applicants from across the state were judged on their community involvement, scholastic performance, letters of recommendation and an essay on overcoming adversity.
The 2012 Phoenix Suns Charities SunStudents Scholarship recipients are:
- Taylor Sanders, Desert Ridge High School, Kevin Johnson Scholarship winner
- Aaron Wodka, Nogales High School
- Abigail Mucklow, Northwest Christian High School
- Adelynn Shafer, Sahuaro High School
- Brandon Shaw, Basha High School
- Christina Wood, Marcos de Niza
- Cole Waldren, Pinnacle High School
- Dominic Hayden, Pinnacle High School
- Dustin Jed Tanada, Williams Field High School
- Kimberly Mitchell, Sunnyslope High School
- Meera Kumar, Horizon High School
- Meghan Kuebler, Florence High School
- Natalie Jones, St. David High School
- Nicholas Jakob, Notre Dame Prep Academy
- Stephen Smith, Centennial High School
- Victoria Ton, Hamilton High School
