Local seniors honored by Comcast

The Comcast Foundation, founded in 1999 to provide charitable support to its local communities and to empower and enrich lives, is awarding 53 Virginia high school seniors scholarships through its annual Leaders and Achievers® Scholarship Program. The program, one of the Comcast Foundation’s signature community investment programs, recognizes students’ leadership skills, academic achievement and commitment to community service.

Comcast was joined by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to recognize the students at a special event held at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond yesterday. Fifty-two of the Leaders and Achievers recipients received $1,000 scholarships and Theodore Flowers of Potomac Falls High School in Sterling was awarded a $10,000 Comcast Founders Scholarship – instituted in honor of Ralph J. Roberts, Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Comcast Corporation – for a total of $62,000 awarded to Virginia students this year. After a prize drawing, five students were also given an iPad to use at college.

Local students honored were Brooke Reade of Stuarts Draft High School, Mark Gordon of Spotswood High School, Krysta Trout of Riverheads High School and Seth Austin of Waynesboro High School.

“These students serve as role models for other young people across the state, and we thank them for their hard work and contributions to their communities,” said Cuccinelli. “I am grateful to Comcast for providing these students, our future leaders, with the help they need and deserve to continue their education and create bright futures for themselves and our state.”

“Comcast is focused on giving back to our communities and providing our youth with opportunities for personal growth and professional success,” said Tom Coughlin, regional senior vice president. “We are pleased to recognize these outstanding students for their achievements and wish them the best of luck as they pursue their dreams.”

The Comcast Leaders and Achievers® Scholarship Program provides one-time $1000 scholarships to students who strive to achieve their potential, who are catalysts for positive change in their communities, who are involved in their schools, and who serve as models for their fellow students. The philosophy behind the program is to give young people every opportunity to be prepared for the future, to engage youth in their communities, and to demonstrate the importance of civic involvement and the value placed on civic involvement by the business community.

Since the program’s inception there have been over 15,000 scholarship winners totaling more than $15.4 million.