Prince George’s County Public School Students Awarded More Than A Quarter of Posse Foundation’s Full College Scholarships

Superintendent of Schools Dr. John E. Deasy announced today that Prince George’s County public school students earned more than a quarter of this year’s prestigious Posse Foundation scholarships. Eleven seniors from eight high schools have been selected to receive four-year, full-tuition leadership awards, each worth more than $100,000.

“These outstanding young leaders make their schools and our community proud,” Dr. Deasy said. “With the support of their posse, they will have unlimited potential to achieve academically, make a difference on their college campus, and become leaders in our community.”

This is the third class of Posse Scholars from the Washington metropolitan area. Nominations were submitted from every Prince George’s County public high school and the 11 Scholars going to college on Posse Scholarships is the largest number from Prince George’s County since Posse arrived in DC in 2004. Forty three scholarships were awarded to Washington-area students.

These 11 Scholars will leverage $1.1 million in college tuition to attend some of the best colleges in the country. Each of the Posse Foundation’s college partners is providing at least $100,000 to every Scholar attending their university. The 2006 Scholars, and the colleges they will attend, are as follows.

2 Scholars will attend Lafayette College in Easton, PA:

Shaun Banks – Northwestern HS
Brianna Strichan – Bowie HS

4 Scholars will attend Sewanee: The University of the South in Sewanee, TN:

Theodosia Goddard – Oxon Hill HS
Sienna Hayes – Oxon Hill HS
Shameka Jenkins – Charles Herbert Flowers HS
Bexter Richardson – Northwestern HS

1 Scholar will attend Grinnell College in Grinnell, IA:

Don Garcia – Oxon Hill HS

4 Scholars will attend Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA:

Werner Parilla – Parkdale HS
Nadia Sasso – Suitland HS
Nakea Tyson – Gwynn Park HS
Bryan Coleman – Friendly HS

Winning a Posse Scholarship is a highly competitive process. First, representatives from the Posse Foundation, Inc. meet with high school college counselors and other administrators to discuss the program and to describe the type of student whom the program looks to serve. Then, high schools and community based organizations in each of the five Posse sites (Boston, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC) nominate students beginning their senior year of high school.

Posse uses a unique evaluative tool – the Dynamic Assessment Process (DAP) – to identify the best candidates from among the nominees. DAP consists of large and small group interviews, where students participate in interactive workshops designed to showcase their problem-solving skills and their ability to work in groups. DAP also incorporates individual interviews in which students present their transcripts and discuss their academic and leadership histories. Through this interview process, a comprehensive picture of the student emerges – one that would be difficult to glean from transcripts, test scores, and essays alone.

In the last stage of DAP, the Posse Foundation assembles a finalist pool for each partner college. Each university partner selects a group of 10 scholarship recipients who will make up a posse that will attend that university together beginning the following year. The foundation has developed partnerships with 26 top-tier universities and colleges which provide Posse Scholars with full-tuition scholarships, on-campus mentors, and valuable educational experience. Over the next decade, Posse expects its list of university partners to grow to include 80 of the best-ranked schools in the U.S.