Matt McGann '00 | July 30, 2009
"Introducing the Class of 2013: Jonte '13"
Continuing our series Introducing the Class of 2013...
- Jonte '13
- Sean '13
- Terence '13
- Christy '13
Craighead named Brown Scholar
Friday, June 19, 2009
By JOEL TURNER - Staff Writer
Jonte Craighead, a 2009 graduate of Franklin County High School, is one of 12 students nationwide who has been named a Ron Brown Scholar this year.
That distinction brings a $40,000 college scholarship.
More than 10,000 students applied for the scholarships.
Craighead will attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) this fall, where he will major in civil or mechanical engineering.
MIT is an internationally-known, private research university located in Cambridge, Mass.
Craighead said he is looking forward to going to Cambridge, where there is a friendly rivalry between MIT and nearby Harvard University.
When he visited the MIT campus, Craighead said he "felt this was the place for me. I felt comfortable there."
Craighead's list of colleges that he considered also included Stanford University and Virginia Tech.
The Ron Brown Scholar Program is the nation's leading scholarship program for African-American youth.
"This year's group of finalists is one of our strongest classes ever, with more than half scheduled to graduate in the top one or two percent of their class," said Michael Mallory, executive director of the Ron Brown Scholar Program.
The program is named for the late Ron Brown, the first African-American appointed to the cabinet post of U.S. Secretary of Commerce and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He was killed in a plane crash in 1996.
Craighead's scholarship will be $10,000 a year for four years.
He has also received several other scholarships totaling about $6,000 a year. These include a National Achievement Scholarship and a Robert C. Byrd Scholarship.
Craighead is the son of John and Chaney Craighead.
His father works at a home entertainment company in Salem. His mother works in the tech services department for Franklin County schools.
At Franklin County High School, Craighead had a record of outstanding academic and extracurricular achievements. He was a distinguished honor graduate at FCHS with a grade point average above 4.0.
Craighead was vice president of the National Honor Society at FCHS this year.
Craighead also shared this year's award for the Outstanding Team Member of the Scholastic Competition for Academic Excellence League (SCAEL) with another senior, Johnver Atienza.
Craighead and Atienza were recognized recently at the FCHS academic recognition program.
SCAEL is a form of high school quiz bowl. The quiz bowl format features teams of students from each school competing on questions related to several subjects, including mathematics, science, social studies and literature.
Craighead was a member of the SCAEL science team.
He also attended the Roanoke Valley Governor's School for Science and Technology, a regional school, located in Roanoke, that offers a math, science and technology curriculum to high achieving and highly motivated students.
"Jonte's enrollment in the Roanoke Valley Governor's School was a life-altering event," according to a profile of Craighead compiled by the Ron Scholar Program.
"Here, in an environment (at the Governor's School) of bright, motivated students from neighboring localities, he (Jonte) was able to immerse himself wholeheartedly in a research curriculum; early on, the perspectives he gained convinced him to consider a career in engineering," according to his profile.
Students spend about half of their school day in high school, and the other half-day at the governor's school.
Craighead, who attended the governor's school for four years, said he decided when he was a freshman that he wanted to be an engineer.
"I had a great math teacher in my freshman year who had been an engineer, but had become a teacher," he said. The math teacher was a great influence on his academic career, he said.
During his school career, Craighead participated and excelled in a broad range of extracurricular activities.
He was a member and drum major for the FCHS Marching Band and a volunteer at the library and 4-H camp.
Craighead attended Sontag Elementary School as a boy.
"Jonte's childhood in rural Franklin County was marked with a great degree of exposure, and he quickly developed an interest in reading and computers, somewhat simultaneously, both of which would serve him in good stead throughout elementary school and much of his later life," according to the Ron Brown profile.
He received good grades in elementary school, but he was also involved in other activities, including recreational baseball, soccer and chess.
In middle school, Craighead participated on the Odyssey of the Mind and chess teams, and he was also involved in student government.
Craighead said he is anxious to start school at a university with an international reputation for academic achievement and research.
Seventy-three Nobel Laureates, 47 National Medal Science recipients and 31 McArthur Fellows are currently or have previously been affiliated with MIT.
And also referencing Jonte and the Ron Brown scholarship...
Twelve Black Students Named Ron Brown Scholars: Four Are Heading to MIT
Each year 10 to 20 African-American high school seniors are awarded Ron Brown scholarships. Scholars are selected on the basis of academic achievement, community service work, and financial need. The selected students receive $40,000 for college ($10,000 each year for four years).
The program, administered by the CAP Charitable Foundation in Charlottesville, Virginia, honors Ronald H. Brown, the first African American to serve as secretary of commerce. Brown, a graduate of Middlebury College and St. John’s University Law School, was killed in a 1996 plane crash.
Since 1997 more than 260 Ron Brown scholarships have been awarded. Over the course of the program about half of the recipients of these awards have enrolled at Ivy League institutions. More than one quarter have enrolled at Harvard University. In the 12-year history of the program, the college graduation rate of Ron Brown scholars has been 100 percent. A majority of all Ron Brown scholars go on to graduate school following the completion of their bachelor’s degree.
This year, 12 African-American students were selected as Ron Brown scholars from over 10,000 applicants. Four of the 12 will enter MIT this fall. Two are headed to Duke and two are going to Harvard. Pictured below are this year’s 12 winners. Their hometowns and the colleges they will be attending are listed.
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The author has filed this entry in the "Incoming Freshman Class Profile" section; check it out for further reading on this topic. |
Responses To This Entry:
(Please note that comments are closed after 30 days to reduce spam.)
I know Alexandra. First
Posted by: docphil on July 30, 2009 03:37 PM
Congratulations Jonte!
Posted by: FuLanKe on July 30, 2009 03:38 PM
Congratulations docphil! "The First"
Posted by: Anonymous on July 30, 2009 03:39 PM
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO JONTE!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Alec P '13 on July 30, 2009 04:03 PM
Ooh, I already know him ^_^
Well, I'm already FB friends with more than a third of our class, so I guess I was bound to know a couple :3
Posted by: NathanArce on July 30, 2009 04:11 PM
All your base are belong to us!
Posted by: Anonymous on July 30, 2009 04:14 PM
Also know Camille and Alexandra to a lesser extent, actually.
Posted by: NathanArce on July 30, 2009 04:16 PM
MIT 4, Harvard 2. Nuff said.
Posted by: shuang61 on July 30, 2009 04:46 PM
MIT 1 - 0 Harvard
Ohh yeah, I do recognize him from the Facebook group too! Way to go, Jonte!
Posted by: Janille '13 on July 30, 2009 05:20 PM
Wooo! Congrats Alexandra and Jonte. Alexandra lives down the block from me :D
Posted by: Kristina '13 on July 30, 2009 06:41 PM
i bet there are no articles about asians because when asians do cool things, it's just expected >.
prove me wrong ^_^
Posted by: anon on July 30, 2009 08:35 PM
congrats jonte! :)
Posted by: Stephanie '13 on July 30, 2009 09:44 PM
Hey Jonte, congrats!
We have such an awesome class.
Posted by: Reena '13 on July 30, 2009 11:02 PM
So.... There is my face, In an oval, staring back at me... I'm slightly creeped, but it is flattering (I guess?).
Congrats, Jonte! You have a post devoted to you, which is pretty dang awesome.
Posted by: CamilleEverhart on July 30, 2009 11:24 PM
And, of course, it is just like me to make a typo the first time I comment to one of the blogs. Happiness :)
Posted by: CamilleEverhart on July 30, 2009 11:29 PM
Typo?? It's not noticeable. Besides, this is just a comment section, not some important forum, lol.
Posted by: NathanArce on July 30, 2009 11:36 PM
Haha. Thanks, Nathan. I wasn't worried about it, but that makes me feel better :)
...
Hold the phone, "Everheart?" Okay. That's not my name. Nice job, people. I guess that person isn't me. I'll just sashay off now. ^_^
Posted by: Camille'13 on July 31, 2009 09:39 AM
Go Alex!
Posted by: Gustavo '13 on July 31, 2009 03:15 PM
!!!
I don't believe it! Hot stuff, Jonte. Hot stuff.
No. Epic rather.
Posted by: Alex '13 on July 31, 2009 06:01 PM
HI Matt,
i know this is so random, but i didnt know how else i'd be able to contact u lol
i'm turning senior coming fall and just have a question.
is EA admission percentage acutally 30% or atmost 30%?
i still can't decided if i should apply EA or RA Thanks
Posted by: Jay on August 3, 2009 03:20 AM
YAY! Congratulations all! Haha... I'm Facebook friends with both Jonte and Alexandra. Like Nathan, I'm rather active in the '13 Facebook community. :-D
Posted by: Emily Lydic '13 on August 4, 2009 02:31 AM
@Jay
I applied EA and was admitted RD. I would highly recommend it. It's nice to get the application out of the way, it gives you a head start on all your other apps, and the way I see it, you have two chances at around 10% each to get noticed. This means that a higher number of different admissions people get a chance to read through your app and possibly want to admit you. Seems like a win-win situation to me. :-)
Posted by: Emily Lydic '13 on August 4, 2009 02:37 AM
congrats!
Posted by: Sheila MIT '13 on August 4, 2009 04:16 AM
Congrats to all the winners, but especially those heading off to MIT! :)
Yay for Jonte, I'm extremely happy for you. First Ron Brown, and now a blog post. You've done awesome things since I've last seen you.
Posted by: Anonymous on August 4, 2009 07:27 PM
hi i am a student from india...and will be going to college from next year.....kindly let me know what are the procedure for getting accepted in MIT....thank you
Posted by: Anonymous on August 6, 2009 12:46 AM
