Four vie for Coke scholarships

By WILL STEWART / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard (McMinnville, Tenn.)

Greg Gates, sales center manager of Coca-Cola in Tullahoma, congratulates high school seniors, from left, Kendra Savage, Stephanie Roller and Garrett Martin. Not pictured is semifinalist Erica Cosminsky.

A record-setting four Warren County High School seniors have been named semifinalists in the prestigious Coca-Cola Scholars Program.

The students, Erica Danielle Cosminsky, Garrett Flynn Martin, Stephanie Anne Roller and Kendra Renea Savage, are among 2,000 high school seniors nationwide to be named semifinalists from the more than 80,000 seniors who applied.

Created in 1986 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Coca-Cola and to establish a legacy for educating tomorrow’s leaders, the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation is one of the largest corporate-sponsored, merit-based scholarship programs in the country. Since its inception, the foundation has given away over $23 million in college scholarships.

To become semifinalists, the local students had to first complete an initial online application outlining their overall involvement in school and community affairs, as well as their academic success and employment. Upon being selected as semifinalists, the four were sent expanded applications that required detailed biographical data, several essays, school transcripts and teacher recommendations.

Should they be chosen among the 250 finalists, they will travel to Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta in April to attend Coca-Cola Scholars Weekend. At that time, they would undergo a final interview process that would determine whether they become regional or national scholars.

The 200 regional scholars will each receive a $4,000 renewable scholarship award, while the 50 national scholars will each receive a $20,000 renewable scholarship award.

Greg Gates, sales center manager for Coca-Cola Bottling Works of Tullahoma, whose sales region includes Warren County, congratulated the local students on their accomplishments. Gates said if history is any indication they should perform admirably in the next phase of competition.

“We’ve had great success,” he said. “Last year, three out of four of our semifinalists were named finalists. The year before that, we were three for three.”