On May 22nd, the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria (SFA) hosted its annual SFA awards night. Students getting scholarships arrived at 5:30, where they were able to meet and connect with the presenters. The ceremony occurred in the ACHS King St. Auditorium.
The SFA was established in 1986 in order to help students struggling to understand and afford college admission.
“There are a lot of smart, hardworking students that attend the school,” said Jasmine Milone, the Executive Director of the SFA. “But because of our diversity, a lot of students are the first in their family to go to college.”
In its first year, the SFA awarded $7,000. In 2023, they awarded over $1.4 million in new and renewal scholarships.
“I can’t think of anything else that united this many businesses and communities for one cause,” said SFA member PreeAnn Johnson.
The ceremony opened with remarks from Kevin Jahns, Michelle Rief, Jasmine Milone, and student speaker Zahra Rahimi.
“Alexandria believes in you. We believe in you,” said Dr. Michelle Rief, chair of the Alexandria City School Board.
This year, the SFA Awards night presented 215 scholarships. 29 were awarded for the first time this year.
“As an Afghan girl who grew up in Afghanistan, if I was in Afghanistan I would not have had the chance to continue my education,” said Zahra Rahimi, student representative of International Academy.
Rahimi is the 2024 award recipient of the Marcus Family scholarship.
“This scholarship really means a lot to me, it inspires me and helps me achieve my goals, because there are people like the Marcus family and others who support me.” said Rahimi.
For many students in ACHS, they are the first in their family to graduate highschool and/or college.
“For me, as a first gen international student, I could not pay towards college without these scholarships,” said Sehar E Saba, who was granted the TCW Class of 1968 scholarship. “So I’m incredibly grateful that SFA is doing this, it’s a contribution towards my success.”
The SFA has granted many students opportunities they would likely not get otherwise.
“Alexandria has a lot of low income students.” said Angelique Bocovo, who was granted the Yasmin Groehn Memorial Scholarship. “So these kind of events help a lot of these students get higher education when they wouldn’t have been able to without it.”
Abigail Juarez Roth is another student who was able to benefit from the event.
“My family and I are very grateful because this is exactly what we needed to help pay off the rest of the tuition and extra fees,” said Juarez Roth, who was granted the Sally Krahn Memorial Scholarship.
Through this program, the SFA is able to give students, and families, greater opportunities.
“There are all sorts of people in the community who receive scholarship benefits,” said Milone. “A scholarship can change a whole family’s trajectory. It can impact younger siblings, parents, etc.”
This ceremony provided a lot of students with new and growing opportunities and allows for college to be more affordable.
*In honor of the Theogony seniors graduating, here is a list of those who were awarded:
Chloe Yokitis – Dr. Manu and Sashi Patel Physics Scholarship
Zoe Sermons – Alexandria Lacrosse Club/The Katherine “KK” Harris McCart Memorial Scholarship
Yahney-Marie Sangaré – Alexandria Future Legends Scholarship.
