Patriot High School student wins $10,000 scholarship in Junior Achievement essay contest

Junior Achievement of Greater Washington has announced that Zoree Jones, a sophomore at Patriot High School, earned first place and was awarded a $10,000 scholarship in the 2017 Junior Achievement Essay Competition. More than 1,100 students across the region submitted essays this year. The essays were judged based on the following criteria: creativity & originality; persuasiveness; grammar & spelling; understanding of subject matter; and relevancy of response to topic question.

The topic for the 2017 Junior Achievement Essay Competition was: “Several great entrepreneurs, including Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, dropped out of college before getting their degrees. How important do you think a college education is to your future success?”

The Essay Competition, sponsored by David M. Rubenstein, was founded in 2008. Each year, high school students in Greater Washington are invited to write an essay and compete for over $110,000 in college scholarships. Through Mr. Rubenstein’s generous financial commitment, 2015 marked more than $1 million in support of the Junior Achievement Essay Competition.

A first, second, and third place winner is selected from each of Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia and awarded a $10,000 scholarship. One grand prize winner is selected from all applicants to receive a $20,000 scholarship. All winning students were recognized by Junior Achievement and Mr. Rubenstein at a private awards ceremony.