The Innovative Companies announced Wednesday that two students were selected as recipients for its Albert A. Sheen Scholarships and four students were awarded the Innovative-UVI Scholarships.
Arthur Williams Jr. of St. Thomas and Denzel Clifton of St. Croix were selected as the 2014 Albert A. Sheen Scholars. They were chosen from among 48 applicants, according to the telecommunication company’s news release. Each of the Albert A. Sheen Scholars will receive a $10,000 tuition-only scholarship for the 2014-15 school year.
Albert A. Sheen Scholarships are awarded to two Virgin Islands high school seniors who have already been accepted to a college or university to pursue a degree in one of the following disciplines: accounting, business administration, business management, engineering or related fields. The scholarship is named for the late attorney Albert A. Sheen, who served as the legal counsel for the Virgin Islands Telephone Corporation, which now does business as Innovative Telephone.
Williams is a 17-year-old honors student who has already received accolades and awards during his scholastic tenure at the Antilles School, where he was the salutatorian of the 2014 graduating class. Williams will attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in September to pursue a bachelor’s of science degree in biomedical engineering.
Clifton is an 18-year-old honors graduate from the St. Croix Educational Complex. In addition to excelling in the classroom, he demonstrated his commitment to his chosen biomedical profession by participating in the Physician Scientist Training Program, which provides training and research opportunities for students, during the last five summers. Clifton will attend Carnegie Mellon University this fall to pursue a bachelor’s degree in engineering.
Innovative awarded four one-time scholarships of $5,000 to accomplished recently graduated high school students who will attend the University of the Virgin Islands in the fall. The Innovative-UVI Scholarships are awarded to two scholars in each district and the funds will be used for tuition, books and materials at UVI.
St. Croix’s scholarship recipients are Debbie Bermudez from St. Croix Central High School and Kristina Diaz from St. Joseph Catholic High School. Scholars from the St. Thomas- St. John district are Blairanna Glasford and Kaunda Williams, both from Charlotte Amalie High School. All four recipients intend to study business administration.
“Over the last four years, Innovative has bestowed over $240,000 in college scholarships to talented Virgin Islands high school graduates," said Jennifer Matarangas-King, vice president of public relations and governmental affairs for the Innovative Companies. "Further, we are committed to providing $100,000 to UVI for scholarships over the next five years as we continue to work closely to support the territory’s only university and one of our strategic partners in the development of the Virgin Islands workforce.”
“The Innovative Companies are proud of our scholarship recipients and we wish them all the best as they pursue their academic endeavors. We are pleased to be able to provide substantial financial assistance that will help take them one step closer to their academic and career goals,” Matarangas-King said.
