Washington Township High School student Cameron Markey is among 100 high school seniors from 32 states across the country selected as recipients of the first-ever Amazon Future Engineer scholarship. The recipients will receive $10,000 per year over four years to study computer science starting this fall at the college of their choice.
According to Amazon, recipients were chosen for their academic achievement, demonstrated leadership, participation in school and community activities, work experience, future goals, and diversity. All of the recipients demonstrated financial need and more than half of the students are from an underrepresented group in the computer science field. Scholarship winners also receive a guaranteed, paid internship opportunity at Amazon after their freshman year of college to gain valuable work experience.
Markey will be enrolling at Rowan University in the fall.
“We are confident that these scholarship recipients are our country’s next generation of world-changing inventors and leaders. They are an impressive, hard-working group, and we’re thrilled to call them our first class of Amazon Future Engineer scholarship winners,” said Jeff Wilke, CEO, Worldwide Consumer, Amazon. “This scholarship is a reflection of our appreciation for the work these students have done so far, and an investment in them and the future we all share. We are eager to see the bold paths paved by these students as college students, Amazon interns, and beyond.”
“It has been a true pleasure to work with such a humble, respectable young lady,” WTHS school counselor Fran Mulvihill said. “Throughout her high school career, Cameron has been successful in a demanding academic curriculum. She works hard to make sure she achieves each goal she sets for herself. She is very deserving of this wonderful recognition.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that by 2020 there will be 1.4 million computer science-related jobs available and only 400,000 computer science graduates with the skills to apply for those jobs. Computer science is the fastest-growing profession within the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) field, but only 8% of STEM graduates earn a computer science degree, with a small number from underprivileged backgrounds. Students from underprivileged backgrounds are 8 to 10 times more likely to pursue college degrees in computer science if they have taken AP computer science in high school.
Launched in November 2018, Amazon Future Engineer is a four-part childhood-to-career program intended to inspire, educate, and prepare children and young adults from underrepresented and underserved communities to pursue careers in the fast-growing field of computer science. Each year, Amazon Future Engineer aims to inspire more than 10 million kids to explore computer science; provide more than 100,000 young people in more than 2,000 high schools access to Intro or AP Computer Science courses; award 100 students with four-year $10,000 scholarships; as well as offer guaranteed and paid Amazon internships to gain work experience. Amazon Future Engineer is part of Amazon’s $50 million investment in computer science/STEM education. In addition, Amazon Future Engineer has donated more than $10 million to organizations that promote computer science/STEM education across the country.
Pictured: WTHS senior Cameron Markey is pictured with school counselor Fran Mulvihill.
