San Miguel Student Receives Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholarship

Eighth grade student Lander C. was named a Cooke Young Scholar, a recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholarship, on September 11. 

Lander (Class of 2024) with Assistant Director of Graduate Support Danny Valdez

The selective scholarship, which names about sixty recipients nationally, is awarded to high-performing seventh grade students. The last San Miguel student to receive the scholarship was Kelvin Mejia in 2008. 

As a member of the Cooke Young Scholars Program, Lander will receive financial support for high school and extracurricular activities. He will also receive academic and college advising and have access to summer programs, community programming, and networking opportunities.  

The San Miguel Graduate Support Team encouraged Lander to apply to be a Cooke Scholar. Lander particularly credits Assistant Director of Graduate Support Danny Valdez with supporting him through the application process. 

Lander, now in eighth grade, has maintained a 4.0 grade point average since he entered San Miguel. He was named the 2023 Science Fair winner for his experiment that compared energy output of a conventional electrical outlet and a Tesla coil. Lander hopes to attend Sidwell Friends or Episcopal High School next year, and he aspires to be a lawyer or a surgeon.