Bishop Jackson, an eighth-grade student at Thomas County Middle School in the MERIT program, was recently named as a Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholar. The Cooke Young Scholars Program is a selective 5-year, pre-college scholarship for high-performing seventh-grade students. Bishop began the application process as a seventh-grader after being involved in the Duke TIP program from scoring in the 95th percentile or higher on the previous year’s Georgia Milestones Assessment. As part of the Duke TIP program, Bishop was able to take the ACT as a seventh grader. After receiving an impressive score on this exam, he also received information about the Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholar Program. Bishop completed the application process in February, 2018, along with several required essays. Along with the essays and application, he also had to submit grades, along with previous state test scores at the completion of each school year, Lexile scores, information about extracurricular activities, and three letters of recommendation from teachers. With more than 2,600 applicants, the process was extremely time-consuming for the foundation to score all of the applicants.
After waiting for more than six months for applications to be reviewed by a national panel of educators, Bishop received an email stating that he was one of fifty applicants selected out of the over 2,600 who had applied. Bishop was assigned a mentor who would follow him throughout his high school career, monitor his academic progress, help with goal-setting, and provide comprehensive academic and college advising. As a recipient, Bishop is eligible to receive up to $40,000 in scholarship funds upon high school graduation per year of college as well as the opportunity to attend Cooke-sponsored summer programs, internships, and other learning enrichment opportunities.
When asked about being selected, Bishop stated, “I feel very honored and humbled to be a part of the Jack Kent Cooke community. Receiving this honor is a confirmation of the rigorous coursework provided by the MERIT Program at Thomas County Middle School. I am excited for my future with the new opportunity provided by the Cooke Foundation, which will allow me to attend any university that I desire in the future.”
Principal Jamie Thompson stated, “It is wonderful to see kids being recognized for the hard work that they do in the classroom. Bishop is more than deserving of the honor of being selected as a Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholar. I am grateful for all of the hard working students and our teachers who work with them on a daily basis. I would also like to thank Mrs. Retha Lee for playing a pivotal role in the Duke TIP program at TCMS.”