Thirteen Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) students have been named recipients of full-tuition, four-year college scholarships from the Posse Foundation.

The Posse program identifies public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential that may have been overlooked by traditional college selection processes.

Fifty-five colleges and universities each offer full-tuition scholarships to students throughout the country and create multicultural teams—called Posses—on each campus. These student teams receive professional guidance before and throughout college and provide support to one another. On campus, these students serve in important leadership roles.

“Beyond attending school tuition free, Posse is really about providing students with a strong network of support—from before they arrive at college to well after they graduate,” says Donna Redmond Jones, principal at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, which has three Posse recipients. “What an amazing opportunity!”

Posse programs are located in 10 different regions—Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, the District of Columbia, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, San Francisco and New York.

The students were honored at a ceremony on Jan. 6 at the Lincoln Theatre in Washington, D.C. Kimberly Boldon, acting principal at Thomas S. Wootton High School, helped to celebrate the achievements of the students.

“I am so proud of our students,” Boldon says. “They epitomize excellence in academics, perseverance and hard work.”

This year’s MCPS recipients come from eight high schools and will attend five different colleges. The 2015 Posse Scholars from MCPS are:

• Sol Balangero, Thomas S. Wootton High School, attending Bucknell University
• Alex Batubara, Rockville High School, attending Grinnell College
• Benjamin Cabrera, James Hubert Blake High School, attending Sewanee: The University of the South
• Tirhas Dempsey, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, attending University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Christiana Fowlkes, Springbrook High School, attending University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Mateo Garcia Araoz-Fraser, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, attending Bucknell University
• Calvin Martinez, Watkins Mill High School, attending University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Ethan Moscoso, Thomas S. Wootton High School, attending Grinnell College
• Grace Padgett, Paint Branch High School, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Carlos Piedrasanta, Rockville High School, attending Grinnell College
• Rediet Siyoum, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, attending Lafayette College
• Langston Thomas, Thomas S. Wootton High School, attending Grinnell College
• Mengizem Tizale, Winston Churchill High School, attending University of Wisconsin-Madison

Posse Foundation