Three Sandy Creek High graduating seniors are among the elite few nationwide receiving full Air Force ROTC scholarships.

AFJROTC Cadets Kelsey Buerker and Jake Galli, along with fellow student Ashley Ellis, are among the less than 1,500 awardees nationwide receiving full four-year scholarships that can be in excess of $40,000 each.

To be eligible for a scholarship, each student must initially apply on-line, then submit SAT/ACT scores, school transcripts, an activity sheet, a personal statement and complete a physical fitness test. A letter of recommendation from the Senior Aerospace Science Instructor is also included. After all the paperwork is received at Air Force ROTC Headquarters, each student is then scheduled for an interview with an Air Force officer. The selection board uses the complete application and review results to determine scholarship winners.

Over 12,000 applications were received this year with only about 2,900 of them being eligible for consideration. From those applications, less than 50 percent were chosen by the scholarship board to receive awards. Since implementing the AFJROTC program five years ago at Sandy Creek, 21 military related scholarships have been received by students at the school.

“I am extremely proud of each of these students and their exemplary work. To be selected for this scholarship is an honor and indicates a proven record of accomplishment in academics, leadership, fitness and extracurricular activities,” says Senior Aerospace Instructor Colonel Douglas Pearson. “It is very rewarding to see students who have worked so hard, done all the right things and then get rewarded with a college education and a future career opportunity.”

Cadet Buerker plans to attend Auburn University, Cadet Galli will start school at Brigham Young University and Ashley Ellis will attend Emory University.

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