Skip to content

January 2020 Connections

30 education professionals from across the country came to Atlanta this month to read all of the applications we received from our 1,928 Semifinalists. They recommended 251 to advance as Regional Finalists who will move to the next stage of selection, regional interviews. We are so grateful for their hard work!
Among those readers, 7 were past scholarship recipients. Thank you to LaToya Franklyn (2003), Ryan Upshaw (2002), Robert Powers (2007), Nina Srivastava (2014), Beserat Kelati (2008), Marc Paulo Guzman (2006), and Fletcher Cox (1999, not pictured) for helping us select our 32nd class!
The Odom Corporation, a Coca-Cola bottler, celebrated Semifinalist Wyatt Alexander at their Anchorage office. He took a photo with Bill Odom, was awarded a Semifinalist certificate, and gifted a Coca-Cola backpack and shirt.
The Odom Corporation also celebrated Semifinalist Rachael Shaw-Rosenbaum at their Anchorage office.
The Odom Corporation celebrated Semifinalist Catherine Chow at their Hilo office in Hawaii, too! We are so grateful for our Coca-Cola bottlers.
Michelle Pomeroy (2007) and Kalen Acquisto (2009) met up in Denver, where Kalen lives. “Such pure joy getting to follow up on a friendship formed at the last Scholar Summit and seeing Kalen in her home city! We spent the evening sharing stories and brainstorming some wild and fun possibilities for collaborating with our videography and photography backgrounds. So grateful for the humans in this network!” Michelle wrote.
Katie Lash (2009), a Principal at Driver Middle School in Winchester, IN, took her 8th graders to Washington, DC, in December and met up with John-Paul Adrian (2003), who talked to them about his military background and life in DC. John-Paul and Katie are pictured with his daughter Olivia.
Julia Durham Goehring (2010), her husband David (left), and Nathan Schmetter (2014, right) met at the 17th Annual Hope and Will Ball for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta as guests of The Coca-Cola Company.
Emily Zauzmer (2014) visited Coca-Cola Headquarters while in Atlanta. She happened to be there on the opening day of the building’s new entryway, so she and Carolyn Norton (CCSF) were able to tour the space together for the first time.
Nola Weinstein (2001) interviewed Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner (left) on stage at the Twitter #OneVoice conference in Houston thanks to a little help from fellow Scholar Marc Eichenbaum (2000), who works for the Mayor.
Former CCSF staff members Patti Ross (middle left), Mark Davis (middle right), and Ryan Rodriguez (not pictured), came by for lunch with the CCSF team and alum Karyn Harrington (1997).
Cage Sawyers visited fellow 2017 Scholar Jackson Blackwell in Alaska last summer. They spent a week in South-central Alaska on a glacier cruise fishing, camping, eating great seafood, and exploring the region. They took this photo while fishing in the Gulf of Alaska.