ROCKINGHAM — Richmond Senior High School announced its class of 2017 nominees for the Morehead-Cain merit scholarship in a press release Tuesday.

Richmond County Schools public information officer Ashley-Michelle Thublin said the four nominees were part of an original group of 13 students selected by RSHS faculty and staff to compete for the final nominations. The school’s Morehead-Cain Committee, after interviewing each of the students, nominated Kenzie Ransom, Justin Smith, Prashill Thakar, and Jenna Staub to advance to the next round of competition.

“In every senior class, there is a handful of dynamic leaders that set the standards higher for the rest in conduct and achievement, in the classroom and in extracurricular activities,” Thublin wrote in the press release. “They may be active in traditional activities such as student government, clubs and the arts, or they may have ventured out into new or less established areas. In either case they have added to the positive spirit of our school and community.”

The Morehead-Cain scholarship, she explained, was modeled after Oxford University’s Rhodes Scholarship and is the “oldest and most prestigious merit scholarship program in the United States.”

According to the scholarship’s website, “It isn’t the high-achieving student we seek so much as the scholar — the one for whom knowledge is about more than grades and test scores, and for whom learning is an appetite rather than a means to an end.”

Thublin said the selection criteria are leadership, academic achievement, moral force of character and physical vigor.

“It is a unique, fully-funded educational opportunity that includes an undergraduate scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as well as a summer enrichment program offering a life-changing combination of global travel, research and real-world work experience in both pubic service and the private sector,” she explained.

She added that Morehead-Cain Scholars’ college experiences are further enriched through access to dedicated Morehead-Cain advisors and interactions with “nearly 3,000 Morehead-Cain alumni who live and work around the globe.”

“The students’ next step is to fill out information online,” Thublin said. “Then, UNC will contact RSHS’s guidance counselors to learn a bit more about each of the students.”

She said from there, UNC will evaluate their findings and select which of the nominees to interview.

Reach reporter Melonie McLaurin at 910-817-2673 and follow her on Twitter @meloniemclaurin.

Courtesy photo The Richmond Senior High School class of 2017 Morehead-Cain Scholarship nominees pose for a photo. Pictured from left to right: Principal Jim Butler, Kenzie Ransom, Justin Smith, Prashill Thakar and Jenna Staub.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_MoreheadCainNominees.jpegCourtesy photo The Richmond Senior High School class of 2017 Morehead-Cain Scholarship nominees pose for a photo. Pictured from left to right: Principal Jim Butler, Kenzie Ransom, Justin Smith, Prashill Thakar and Jenna Staub.

By Melonie McLaurin

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