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ASTRONAUT STEPHANIE WILSON CONGRATULATES SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS

BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2007

JACQUELINE BOONE AND MARCUS SCHWARTZ WIN DR. J. DON BONEY, SR. BOOK SCHOLARSHIPS

(Houston, Texas, February 26, 2007)   Jacqueline Boone and Marcus Christian Schwartz were the proud winners of book scholarships, presented at the J. Don Boney, Sr. Book Scholarship/Image Awards Luncheon on February 22.   They also met Astronaut Stephanie Wilson, who spoke to the gathering.

To win, both students had to provide three letters of reference, have a high GPA, and compete with an essay titled "How Can American Students be Better Prepared for Careers that Require Extensive Math and Science Backgrounds?"  

Boone, an English major with an expected graduation in late 2008, feels she had a slight advantage because she has taken education courses (and is certified now in Early Childhood and English as a Second Language), and had a lot of thoughts about the subject.   She was delighted to win, nonetheless!   The $300 scholarship offered for two semesters will mean a lot to her since, this year, she couldn't buy books for the first two weeks of her courses and had to play catch-up afterwards.  

"I was hoping I would win.   Now, I won't have to worry about getting behind," Boone says.

Schwartz, also an English major with an expected graduation in May of 2008, admits he had not given the essay topic much thought before the competition, but he did his best.

"I'd never won a scholarship before, so I was excited when I was invited to the luncheon as a winner," he says.

Schwartz and his wife, who just got a degree in Special Education, have never used financial aid because they don't believe in it.  

"We think we'll find the money if it's God's will for us to be in school," Schwartz explains.   "And we have always found it - just like I received this needed book scholarship."

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