Twenty-four Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) students have won scholarships through the Project Excellence program, which honors the academic achievement of outstanding African-American students in the Washington metropolitan area.

Two of the 24 high school seniors will receive four-year college scholarships valued at up to $130,000 each.

Five of the students will receive $10,000 scholarships sponsored by various organizations, and the remaining 17 students will receive $4,000 scholarships supported by Project Excellence funds.

The local students are among 111 Project Excellence winners, who were honored for winning more than $3 million in scholarships at the Project Excellence 12th anniversary awards dinner at the Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. on May 14. The awards were presented by Carole Simpson, senior correspondent and Sunday anchor of ABC News, and Carl T. Rowan, the syndicated columnist who founded Project Excellence in 1987 to encourage and recognize academic excellence among African American high school students.

A panel of 10 judges selected the winners for their outstanding academic achievement and ability to communicate from among students nominated by public, private and parochial high schools in the metropolitan Washington area. Panel members came from the fields of education, journalism, law and public affairs and included Paul L. Vance, MCPS superintendent.

Students are nominated for the scholarships by their high school.

The two major scholarship winners from MCPS, their schools and scholarship sponsors are:

Grace Williams, Sherwood High School, The Hood College Project Excellence Award; and

Michelle Good, Seneca Valley High School, The Tennessee State University-Project Excellence Award.

Winners of the $10,000 scholarships and their sponsors are:

Doee Kitessa, Paint Branch High School, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Scholarship;

Loveleigh Beasley, Springbrook High School, The Steve and Barbara Newby Scholarship;

Mary Anne Anderson, Montgomery Blair High School, The Freedom Forum Scholarship;

Ibiwunmi Ojo, Seneca Valley High School, The NationsBank Scholarship; and

Geonard Butler, Springbrook High School, The Gannett Foundation Scholarship.

Winners of $4,000 scholarships supported by Project Excellence funds are:

Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School

Susan Jones

V. William Nero

Montgomery Blair High School

Gyasi Khafra

Albert Einstein High School

Andre Carrington, II

Gaithersburg High School:

Sadhana Jackson

Akenji Ndumu

Abayotui Walker

Walter Johnson High School

Henrietta Ocheni

John F. Kennedy High School

Sonja Uwimana

Alfred Wanga

Col. Zadok Magruder High School

David Robinson

Richard Montgomery High School

Adam Banks

Paint Branch High School

Jessica Opoku-Anane

Quince Orchard High School

Jason Green

Maliangai Sirlef

Wheaton High School

Allyson Morman

Walt Whitman High School

Olayemi Abayomi