Ananya Nagendra and Kareem Hassanien from Plano East Senior High School were two of the 1,238 semifinalists from across the United States.
Two Plano East Senior High School students were named in The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation’s program semifinals.
The program filtered through over 107,000 applications to select 1,238 semifinalists based on academic excellence, leadership and service, according to the program’s website.
“Ananya and Kareem’s recognition reflects their exceptional leadership and character,” said Plano East Senior High School Principal David Jones. “We are so proud to have these students represent Plano ISD at the national level. They embody our district’s vision of being committed to excellence, dedicated to caring, powered by learning and being Plano ISD Proud.”
In late February, 150 of these finalists will be named as Coke Scholars-select and will attend Coca-Cola Scholars Weekend in Atlanta for a banquet and development program as well as a $20,000 college scholarship.
The Plano students who are semifinalists include:
Kareem Hassanien is a senior at PESH, the former president of the school’s National Honor Society chapter, a volunteer for Feed My Starving Children, a DECA state champion and the executive director of operations at nonprofit SecondStepTech.
Ananya Nagendra is a senior at PESH. Her awards this year include 2nd place in Environmental Sciences at the Texas Junior Academy of Science and College Board National Recognition Awardee. Nagendra is the founder of the Letters of Light Foundation, on the executive board for Timeless Harmonies and a volunteer at the Texas Oncology Foundation.