Sixty-one high school seniors from the Tampa Bay area have been selected as semifinalists for the 2012 Barnes Scholarships offered through the St. Petersburg Times Fund.
A total of 389 students from Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties applied.
A Barnes Scholarship is worth up to $60,000 over four years of study at an accredited U.S. college or university. Each year, four winners have been selected. This year, the St. Petersburg Times Fund will provide $133,300 in financial aid to college students just through the Barnes Scholarship program.
Established by the St. Petersburg Times Fund in 1999, the scholarships are named for Andrew Barnes, retired chairman and chief executive officer of the St. Petersburg Times. The Barnes Scholarships target high school seniors who have achieved academically while having overcome significant obstacles in their lives.
The semifinalists — 30 boys and 31 girls — are completing the second portion of the application, due this month. They must answer several essay questions and provide family financial information, high school transcripts, SAT and ACT scores, and letters of recommendation.
All of this information will be reviewed in early January, and 10 finalists will be selected. Those finalists will be interviewed later in the month by a panel of Times employees. The winners will be announced in February.
In the past 12 years, 32 Barnes Scholars have graduated from college — a 100 percent success rate. Sixteen students are currently enrolled in institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Cornell, Duke, Emory University, Northwestern University, Eckerd College, Bowdoin College, Scripps College, the University of Florida and Florida State University.
The St. Petersburg Times Fund is the nonprofit philanthropic arm of Times Publishing Co. The Fund has provided scholarships for college students since 1953. The name of the nonprofit will change to the Tampa Bay Times Fund in 2012 to reflect the change in the newspaper's name to the Tampa Bay Times.
For more information about the Barnes Scholarship program or the Tampa Bay Times/St. Petersburg Times Fund, contact Nancy Waclawek, director, at (727) 893-8780 or Waclawek@tampabay.com. The Fund's website is tampabay.com/fund. Information about the Barnes Scholarships can be found online at tampabay.com/scholarships.
Barnes Scholarship semifinalists Here are the 2012 semifinalists:
Citrus County
Caitlin Bryant, Citrus High
Morgan Metzger, Citrus High
Alison Schriro, Citrus High
Hernando County
Beverly Becker, Springstead High
Nathalia Botero, Springstead High
Amanda Faunce, Hernando High
Hillsborough County
Ayushe Misra, Alonso High
Rachel Coxon, Blake High
Deven Jarvis, Blake High
Grant Sprow, Bloomingdale High
Noah Stebbins, Bloomingdale High
Raymond Dalton, Durant High
Asia Nelson, Durant High
Ashley Nelson, Durant High
Monica Viera, East Bay High
Anne Marie Nemeth, Gaither High
Johnlewis Elliott, Jefferson High
Abdel Abraham, Lennard High
Julian Couture, Lennard High
Xiaodong Lu, Lennard High
Dina Villalba-Sanchez, Lennard High
Michael Bennett, Plant City High
Kyle Griffin, Plant City High
Alec Layman, Plant City High
Parthik Patel, Plant City High
Ranita Findlay, Riverview High
Devin Bird, Robinson High
Jose Del Cotayo, Robinson High
Lena Tran, Robinson High
Amir Ahmadiavin, Steinbrenner High
Ruben Godinez, Strawberry Crest High
Brandon Hastings, Strawberry Crest High
Johnny Stephens, Strawberry Crest High
Patrick Ries, Tampa Bay Technical High
Heather Vermilyea, Tampa Bay Technical High
Basil Jackson, Berkeley Prep
Pasco County
Raymond Muller, Hudson High
Linzi Arndt, Land O'Lakes High
Brett Garren, Pasco High
James McCabe, Pasco High
Victoria Kumalae, River Ridge High
Johnathon Guess, Florida Virtual School/PHCC
Pinellas County
O'Shane Elliott, Boca Ciega High
Bridgett Veltri, Boca Ciega High
Haley LaMont, Dixie Hollins High
Erin Moore, East Lake High
Lisa Diffendale, Lakewood High
Matthew Hager, Largo High
Marissa Lazo, Osceola Fundamental High
Phaedra Brady, Palm Harbor University High
Stephen Urchick, Palm Harbor University High
Graham Reybitz, Pinellas Park High
Henris Zaimaj, Pinellas Park High
Anne Do, St. Petersburg High
Nourhan Elsayed, St. Petersburg High
Gabrielle Montes, St. Petersburg High
David Morris, St. Petersburg High
Carlos J. Agatep III, St. Petersburg Collegiate High
Sarah Barthle, St. Petersburg Collegiate High
Sabrina Dessipe, St. Petersburg Collegiate High
Jonathan Ware, St. Petersburg Collegiate High
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