On the evening of Tuesday, May 16th, the inaugural High Tech High Founder’s Scholarship Award ceremony took place. Two seniors from each High Tech High campus in San Diego County, comprising 12 students, were selected as recipients of the award from a pool of over 70 applicants. Each honoree was gifted a $3,000 scholarship to aid their future educational goals. The award was presented by none other than the CEO and Founder of High Tech High, Larry Rosenstock. Dr. Rosenstock won the WISE Prize For Education in 2019 and was awarded $500,000. This led to the High Tech High Founder’s Scholarship award being created and sufficiently funded.

The event took place at High Tech High Mesa’s stunning theater. The seats were filled with the family members, friends, and peers of the honorees being celebrated. The event began with a speech from the Director of College Counseling at HTHM, Chris White. He introduced Larry Rosenstock as well as the college advisers from each HTH high school who supported and guided the honorees throughout their respective educational journeys and would be assisting with announcing the students individually. Mr. White also gave an overview of the High Tech High Founder’s Scholarship Award and how the honorees were selected. Every senior attending a High Tech High in San Diego County was able to apply for the scholarship. Chris White along with the other college counselors was tasked with making the selections based on their thorough evaluations of each application. Of the students selected, their average GPA is 4.01 and the average acceptance rate of the colleges they committed to is less than 25 percent.

Following Mr. White’s speech, Larry Rosenstock took the stage to speak on his experiences and his excitement to be presenting the award for the first time ever. When speaking on his ideology and motivation behind founding High Tech High, he noted, “I have always wanted to ensure that all kids have the opportunity to discover and create new knowledge.” This segued into his reasoning behind creating the scholarship award and encapsulates the actions showcased by the honorees throughout their time within the High Tech High system. 

In its notification to the winners, the scholarship committee said: “Your HTH experience embodies the vision that HTH Founders had over two decades ago, and the committee believes that you will use your HTH experience as a foundation to make a difference for the better in the world.”

Three of the awardees gave individual reflections on their experiences at High Tech High and expressed their gratitude for being selected. Then, one by one, each honoree was announced and came to the stage to be presented with the scholarship, share a few words with Larry Rosenstock, and collect a gift bag with a shirt corresponding with the college they have committed to, along with other items. After all the students were awarded their scholarships they adorned their college shirts and took a group photo together on stage. The CEO of the  High Tech High Foundation, Audrey Gans, gave some final words congratulating the honorees, thanking Dr. Rosenstock, and the organizers of the inaugural High Tech High Founder’s Scholarship Award ceremony. Cake and sparkling cider in champagne floats were then served to all who attended the event and brought a close to the evening. The event was a roaring success and the High Tech High Founder’s Scholarship Award will now be an annual event to celebrate the best, brightest, and most deserving from the High Tech High community.