POLAHS senior Joshua Bonner knows just where he's headed this fall - to Dickinson College in historic Carlisle, Pennsylvania - on a four-year full tuition scholarship, totaling $140,000!
Joshua applied through the Posse Foundation, one of the most comprehensive and renowned youth leadership development programs in the United States.
Each fall, students are nominated by high schools for their leadership and academic potential. Posse partner colleges and universities award merit-based scholarships to multicultural teams of 10 students each. These teams (posses) enroll in a 32-week training program during their senior high school year. They arrive on their college campus academically prepared and motivated to foster positive social change.
This year, over 3,300 students applied for a Posse scholarship nationwide, and only 137 were ultimately chosen.
Joshua is following in the footsteps of POLAHS' 2011 Posse Scholar, Briana Miller. "Seeing Briana succeed in the program encouraged me to be myself and to learn from the rigorous interview process," he said. Joshua has been focused on college preparedness for quite some time. He turned to friends like Briana, POLAHS faculty, and professional programs for advice and experiential learning. Prior to his 11th grade year, Joshua was amongst 30 students selected nationwide to participate in a "LEAD" summer Business Institute at Dartmouth College. He presented his own business plan to Dartmouth alumni and attended workshops about college admissions. Joshua plans on studying philosophy and law in college.
The POLAHS Board, administration, and faculty are extremely proud of Joshua and send him congratulatory wishes!