Two New London Students Receive Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarships

A Press Release from New London School District

Yesterday, two seniors from the Science and Technology Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut were presented with $20,000 college scholarships from the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Fund.

Clayton Potter and Khaadijah Reed were both surprised by the members of the scholarship committee and high school guidance staff when they were separately called down to the office of Magnet School Director Louis Allen. Neither of them knew what to expect until they stepped into Mr. Allen’s office and saw the members of the committee they had interviewed with only two weeks ago.

Clayton and Khaadijah were two of only five area scholarship recipients for the 2013-14 school year. This year, 50 students from local towns and cities applied for a scholarship from the fund, Mr. James Mitchell, president of the scholarship’s trust fund and member of the scholarship’s selection committee, said. He added that the number of students who apply for a scholarship grows each year.

The scholarship was started in 1968 by Eunice McLean Waller and her late husband William DeHomer Waller, with their donation of $100 to award a scholarship to a student who best represented Dr. King’s ideals. Mrs. Waller was a former city teacher, mayor and black leader who died last year. There is now a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. scholarship in her name.

The celebration dinner, where all five high school scholarship recipients, their families, friends and community members will gather to hear their speeches on how they will continue Dr. King’s legacy, is scheduled for October 17, 2013, at 6:30 p.m., at the Mystic Marriott in Groton, Connecticut.

Please visit facebook.com/NLPS.CT for video of the two students sharing the good news with their parents.