The School District of Lee County is excited to announce 35 students have been honored as 2023 Carson Scholars. The Carson Scholars Fund will provide each student with a $1,000 College Scholarship.
The Carson Scholars Fund awards $1,000 college scholarships to students in grades 4-11 who excel academically and are dedicated to serving their communities. Each school is able to nominate one student to apply. Carson Scholars must have a minimum GPA of 3.75 and display humanitarian qualities through community service.
The 35 students honored as Carson Scholars this year are:
- Iker Acosta Penalva - Tice Elementary School - 5
- Emerson Antunes Black - Cypress Lake High School - 11
- Sydney Butler - Heights Elementary - 5
- Allison Correa - River Hall Elementary - 5
- Gabriel Da Silva - Franklin Park Elementary - 5
- Bailey Davis - Tanglewood Elementary - 5
- Cullen Davis - Orange River Elementary - 5
- Alexandra Flynt - The Sanibel School - 5
- Jada Gomez Ester - High School - 11
- Yoshua Hernandez-Laguna - Estero High School - 11
- Oakley Janke - San Carlos Park Elementary - 5
- J-mie Jean - Orangewood Elementary - 5
- Lilly Kennedy - Oak Hammock Middle - 8
- Mason Koss - The Alva School - 5
- Ava Kukowski - Gateway Elementary - 5
- Camryn Long - J. Colin English Elementary - 5
- Paxton Losey - Edison Park Creative and Expressive Arts School - 5
- Sophia Miranda - Sunshine Elementary - 5
- Solaris Monzon - Diplomat Elementary - 5
- Miles Palomba - Pinewoods Elementary - 5
- Jaansi Parsa - Dunbar High School - 11
- Isabel Pineda - Edgewood Academy - 5
- Adrian Quintero Hatem - Lee Virtual School - 7
- Yuliana Ramirez Lopez - Colonial Elementary - 5
- Tyler Reis - North Fort Myers Academy for the Arts - 5
- Joselyn Santander - Lehigh Elementary - 4
- Aubri Stuart - Pine Island Elementary - 5
- Jexton Taveras - Skyline Elementary - 5
- Peyton Tillman - Bayshore Elementary - 5
- Isabella Ventura - Mirror Lakes Elementary - 5
- Abigail Waters - Dr. Carrie D. Robinson Littleton Elementary - 5
- Gabriela Whitmer - Fort Myers High School - 11
- Kristian Wydysh - North Fort Myers High School - 10
- Ismaeel Zafar - Allen Park Elementary - 5
- Emilia Zucchelli - Villas Elementary - 5
64 students in the School District of Lee County are earning Carson Scholar Recognition in 2023. Carson Scholar Recognition is an elite honor that affirms the prestigious status of Carson Scholars in their pursuit of academic and career goals. Eleven are high school seniors who have earned Carson Scholar Recognition status every year since first being honored as a Carson Scholar.
- Isabella Acosta - North Fort Myers High School
- Elise Brown - Fort Myers High School
- John Cintron - Fort Myers High School
- Reece Crockett - Riverdale High School
- Ethan DiNottia - Fort Myers High School
- Kyle Keene - Fort Myers High School
- Dalevyon Knight - Fort Myers High School
- Jilan McQuilkin - North Fort Myers High School
- Sarveshwaran Palani - Fort Myers High School
- Ashlene Thomas - South Fort Myers High School
- Emily Ward - North Fort Myers High School
The Carson Scholars Fund, Inc. was founded in 1994 by now retired world-renowned Johns Hopkins Pediatric Neurosurgeon Benjamin S. Carson, M.D. and his wife, Candy to address the education crisis in the United States. They believed that if children could be taught early to excel, they would stay motivated and have a higher chance of educational success later in life.