Amazon surprises Prince George's County STEM students with $40K Future Engineer scholarships

GREENBELT, Md. - A special surprise for some high-achieving public high school STEM students in Prince George's County who received scholarships from Amazon that will make their college dreams possible.

FOX 5’s Bob Barnard visited Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt for a special ceremony honoring seven Prince George’s County public high school seniors.

The students are considered among the best and brightest and are being recognized for their excellence in computer science.

The highlight of the ceremony was a special delivery from Amazon. The company delivered a $40,000 Future Engineer scholarship to each of the students.

"I'm so surprised right now. I'm really thankful. So thank you, Amazon, for giving me this opportunity. I worked really hard in high school to get here," said Nhandi Nyawela, a senior at Chesapeake Math & IT Public Charter. "I'm so excited to say that I will be majoring in computer science at the University of Maryland and I'm just so excited that you gave me this opportunity to further my education."

Amazon is recognizing the top 400 academic achieving students across the country, including those here in Prince George’s County.

"Computer science powers everything that Amazon does and so we know firsthand the power of science and technology to change the world," said Victor Reinoso, Amazon's Global Director of Educational Philanthropy. "We know that passion and potential is spread out throughout the community but opportunity isn't, and so through the awards today we hope to increase access to computer science engineering education for young people from under-served and historically under-represented communities."

For the students, it’s a recognition of their hard work, dedication, and leadership qualities. For their parents, it’s a gift that will help with the extremely high cost of a college education.