A BelovED Community Charter School student in Jersey City received a $25,000 scholarship from Chick-fil-A last week during a surprise ceremony.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Edward Vazquez-Hernandez was personally awarded a $25,000 scholarship and a MacBook Pro by Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew T. Cathy during a surprise ceremony held in the high school’s gymnasium.
Vazquez-Hernandez received the award in front of his family, BelovED staff members, honored guests, and dozens of friends and classmates.
“I was shocked. Earlier [that day] I was worrying about college net costs and being able to afford my higher education. It was surreal knowing that my effort was validated,” he said in a statement.
Vasquez-Hernandez applied for the scholarship through the Chick-fil-A Remarkable Futures Scholarships initiative, open to all high schoolers employed by the company. The program offers three scholarship awards, available in the amounts of $1,000, $2,500, and $25,000.
While tens of thousands of employees apply annually, Vazquez-Hernandez, who has worked at the Chick-fil-A location in Newport Centre Mall since September of last year, is one of only 13 the top prize recipients nationwide.
The details of the ceremony were kept under wraps by BelovED leadership for several weeks leading up to the event.
Vazquez-Hernandez and other scholars enrolled in his Statistics class were told they would be sitting in on a special lecture on entrepreneurship to be given by the fast food chain CEO.
Once the class arrived at the gymnasium, it became clear to the valedictorian hopeful and his classmates that he was the man of the hour.
In addition to working at his part-time job at Chick-fil-A, Vazquez-Hernandez is also a member of the National Honor Society as well as the indoor and outdoor track teams at school. After college, he plans to pursue a career in a STEM field.
He credits much of his success to BelovED Community Charter School, where he has been an Owl since second grade.
“BelovED has given me a strong academic foundation. [The school has also provided] a community surrounded by ambitious friends who challenge me everyday,” Vazquez-Hernandez added.




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