Sunshine State Scholars Program Recognizes Southwest Florida
DOE Press Office 850-245-0413
Sunshine State Scholars Program Recognizes Southwest Florida's Top Stem Students
- Program honors Florida students who excel in science, technology, engineering, and math -Tallahassee, Fla., February 27, 2013 - Southwest Florida's highest-achieving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students joined their peers from across the state in Orlando to be honored during the 2013 Sunshine State Scholars program. The two-day awards and recruitment event celebrated the accomplishments of these elite students and provided a unique venue for Florida's colleges and universities to recruit their talents. Each school district selected the top eleventh-grade STEM scholar to participate.
The Sunshine State Scholars program is possible because of collaboration among the Florida Education Foundation, the Division of Florida Colleges, the State University System of Florida, and the Florida Department of Education. Event sponsors of this year's program include AT&T, State Farm, Helios Education Foundation, Universal Orlando Resort, Gulf Power Company, The Florida Lottery, Florida Trend Magazine, Publix Super Markets Charities, and Capital City Bank. For more information about the event, visit Sunshine State Scholars.
A list of Southwest Florida's Sunshine State Scholars is below.
| District | Scholar | School |
|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | Steven Daniele | Edison Collegiate High School |
| Citrus | Samantha Gangi | Lecanto High School |
| Collier | Catherine Davis | Naples High School |
| DeSoto | Sergio Villafuerte | DeSoto High School |
| Glades | Mattie Bass | Moore Haven Jr./Sr. High School |
| Hardee | Addison Aubry | Hardee Senior High School |
| Hendry | Sade Awe | Clewiston High School |
| Hernando | Adam Cooper | Weeki Wachee High School |
| Highlands | Hanna Waller | Lake Placid High School |
| Hillsborough | Dhara Patel | Plant City High School |
| Hillsborough | Earl Bell | Wharton High School |
| Lee | Wesley Pruitt | Estero High School |
| Lee | Emmanuel Georges | Lehigh Senior High School |
| Manatee | Andrew Hoskinson | Lakewood Ranch High School |
| Pasco | Shane Gillen | Gulf High School |
| Pinellas | Mikayla Bridges | Seminole High School |
| Pinellas | Christina Tournant | Osceola Fundamental High School |
| Polk | Youlei Li | Bartow High School IB |
| Polk | Alexandra Rhodes | George Jenkins High School |
| Sarasota | Thomas Chaffee | Pine View School |
| Sumter | Hunter Stafford | The Villages High School |