RAVENS ANNOUNCE 2017 SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
The Baltimore Ravens have selected their 2017 class of Ravens Scholars. For the eighth-consecutive year, five outstanding area high school seniors will be awarded a $5,000 renewable scholarship ($20,000 over four years to each scholar) to support their respective college educations. Each scholar was selected after displaying remarkable academic achievement, extra-curricular participation and community service.
Funded by the Ravens Foundation, Inc., the scholarship program enables local youth to continue their education on the collegiate level. The team has a long-standing history of service to local communities, and this fund helps support those who exhibit the same commitment. Applications were accepted from students who attend public schools in Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Carroll County, areas where the Ravens operate training facilities, maintain offices and hold youth football camps. Â
The Ravens organization once again continued its partnership with CollegeBound Foundation, an independent, nonprofit program designed to work exclusively with local students, helping high schoolers achieve a post-secondary education. After receiving a record-breaking 217 applications, the scholarship committee selected 10 finalists to be interviewed at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills. Ravens assistant director of pro personnel Chad Alexander and director of public relations Patrick Gleason joined members of CollegeBound to conduct the interviews.
Below is the 2017 class of students who will receive scholarships:
2017 Ravens Scholars
Olabisi Ayodele, Western School of Technology and Environmental Science –Ayodele will attend Waynesburg (PA) University in the fall of 2017 to pursue her career goal of becoming a registered nurse. Born in Nigeria, Ayodele's passion for helping others began at a young age when she noticed many people around her living without basic needs. Since arriving in Baltimore, Ayodele has devoted much of her time to volunteering with the National Honor Society, visiting with elderly at the Integrace Institue at Copper Ridge and reading to children at the Randallstown Public Library. Additionally, Ayodele has completed multiple internships at the Baltimore Veterans Affair Medical Center assisting veterans and learning more about patient care. When she's not giving back, Ayodele can be found solving complex problems in her school's Math and Jeopardy Clubs.
Jordan Davis, Randallstown High School –Davis plans to attend Xavier University in the fall of 2017. While serving as senior class president, Davis led her school in several extracurricular activities, including National Honor Society, Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field and Randallstown's AVID (Advancement via Individual Determination) program. She also served as captain of the school's varsity soccer team. While in high school, Davis completed the Biomedical Magnet Program and has ambitions of majoring in engineering at Xavier. Additionally, she volunteers with Moveable Feast, trains others in the sport of track and serves as a camp counselor at Elk's Camp Barrett in Crownsville, Md.
Numbi Lutebula, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute –In the fall of 2017, Lutebula will attend the University of Maryland, College Park with aspirations to major in civil engineering. By enrolling in one of the more rigorous engineering tracks that Poly High School has to offer, Lutebula will complete her high school career with more than 28 credits – far above the minimum graduation requirement of 22 credits required by the state of Maryland. When she's not studying, Lutebula serves as a leader on the school's badminton team, volunteers frequently at her church and supports the Baltimore Running Festival as a race day volunteer. She is also passionate about debate and has been involved with the Baltimore Urban Debate League since she was in the eighth grade. In the summer of 2015, Lutebula took a mission trip to Nicaragua to help improve the country's environment and serve its residents.
Jacqueline Ndayizeye, SEED School of Maryland –Ndayizeye will attend Stevenson University in the fall of 2017. Born in a refugee camp in Tanzania, Ndayizeye and her family migrated to the United States when she was only six years old. Due to various family issues, Ndayizeye was forced to spend time in foster care and lived in homeless shelters. That instability changed when she entered the SEED School of Maryland in the sixth grade and found the sense of security for which she'd been searching. Ndayizeye hopes to pursue a career in health care with a dream to someday return to Africa and open a health clinic for those in need. She also regularly volunteers with the International Rescue Committee and the Refugee Youth Program – both organizations that provided support for Ndayizeye's family when they first moved to Baltimore. While at the SEED School, Ndayizeye served as a student ambassador and participated on the varsity soccer and varsity volleyball teams.*                                                                                                                                                                                  *
Amy Zhang, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute –Zhang will become the first Ravens scholar to attend Yale University in the fall of 2017 and is the first college-bound student in her family. She has been a member of the Ingenuity Project, a math and science magnet program within Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, since she was in sixth grade. Through this program, Zhang had the opportunity to work in the Gracias Lab at the Johns Hopkins University Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, where she contributed to research being done on photolithography techniques to manufacture devices on the micro scale. In addition to being a talented scholar, Zhang was also president of the National Honor Society and a member of the Yearbook Committee. Passionate about music, Zhang also enjoys ballet and contemporary dance, plays the piano and co-founded the Ballroom and Swing Dance Club at Poly.
