IASF awards 25 scholarships totaling over $35,000
The Indian American Scholarship Fund (IASF) of IACA held their 24th annual banquet at the Atlanta International School on June 5, 2016. This function highlighted the high school class of 2016 and awarded 25 college scholarships totaling over $35,000.
IASF is a nonprofit organization that obtains all of its funds from local donors and sponsors. All of the money that is donated and collected by the IASF is completely distributed to the students in educational materials and scholarships.
This year’s class was very accomplished with five valedictorians. One student had a perfect SAT score of 2400, eight students scored higher than 2300. The average ACT was 32 with 16 scoring above 30 and a perfect score of 36. There were several Governors Honors nominees, national AP scholars, finalists for the Intel and Google science awards, and a Yale science award winner. In terms of extracurricular activities, we had varsity athletes in soccer, tennis, and cross country, an Eagle Scout, tutors, biotech company co-founder, karate black belt, Girl Scouts, camp counselors, and Habitat for Humanity volunteers. There was also significant volunteer work in hospitals, law offices, mosques, churches, and temples.
The banquet began with an introduction by Dr. Anuj Manocha, IASF chairman, who then introduced Mr. Kaushal Tripathi, Board member of IACA, to talk about IACA events. Dr. Ravi Sarma, the founder of IASF addressed the class of 2016 and gave valuable advice to parents and graduates. Mrs. Rina Gupta, IACA president, presented each member of the class of 2016 with a gift from IASF of a t-shirt and a book for college, How to Survive Your Freshman Year. Finally, the process of giving the scholarships began. This year 25 scholarships were awarded totaling over $35,000 including two four-year scholarships, two two-year scholarships and seven one-year scholarships.
The banquet highlights the dedication to education and the support of families with financial need and students with exceptional merit.
In addition to the scholarship banquet there was also a “college room,” which was organized by Dr. Ritu Lohtia. This consisted of college students from Georgia Tech, University of Georgia, Emory, Georgia State, Oglethorpe, and Mercer. The purpose of this “college room” was for current college students to answer questions and guide the current class of 2016. The spirit of community was evident throughout the function and all of the members in attendance were so proud to see our future in the Class of 2016!
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IASF organizing committee: Chairman Anuj Manocha, Banquet Chairman Rajesh Kurup, Banquet Vice-Chair Naveen Dittikavi, Ritu Lohtia, Sangeeta Mayur, Geetha Paracharu, Rakhee Parikh, Shatul Parikh, Piyush Patel, Mathangi Ramesh, and Niraj Khatri.
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