ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 20, 1996 TAG: 9606200021
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: N-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Two of the 50 students named National Coca-Cola Scholars this year attended school only a few miles apart.
Seth Wood graduated from Northside High, and Marilyn Huang graduated from Salem High.
"It's very impressive for one community to have two winners of the $20,000 scholarships," said Lauri Strauss, a spokeswoman for the Coca-Cola Co.
The scholarships are awarded by the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation on the basis of academic achievement, community service and leadership qualities.
The Roanoke Valley produced half of Virginia's four winners this year. The other two live in Harrisonburg and Richmond.
The national winners were chosen from 122,000 applicants. They will receive $5,000 a year for four years. The company also selected 100 regional winners who will receive four-year, $4,000 scholarships - $1,000 a year.
The Coca-Cola Foundation awards $1.4 million each year in scholarships and helps support 600 college and university students. The scholarship program began 10 years ago.
Wood and Huang were among the finalists who recently traveled to Atlanta, where they were interviewed by a national selection committee, toured Olympic Games venues and attended a banquet in their honor.
The two students have won several other awards, honors and scholarships for their academic achievements in high school.
Wood received a $2,000 National Merit Scholarship. The Roanoke Valley had four National Merit semifinalists this year, but Wood was the only one to receive a scholarship from National Merit funds. The scholarships are based on academic achievement, test scores, leadership, community service and high school principals' recommendations.
He also won the $3,000 Presidential Alumni Scholarship at Virginia Tech, where he plans to major in history.
Wood, one of Northside's four valedictorians, has also received scholarships of varying amounts from several other organizations, including the National Honor Society.
He was recently named one of the top high school students in the country by USA Today, one of 69 students nationwide on the newspaper's list of honorable mentions for its academic all-star team.
Huang has received $1,000 scholarships each from the E. Price Ripley Memorial Foundation, General Electric Star Scholarship, John Youngblood Scholarship and the Virginia Pepsi/Harris Teeter Scholar Athlete Award.
She will attend the University of Virginia and plans a career in medicine.
Both Wood and Huang are also outstanding athletes. Wood was on the cross country and track teams at Northside. Huang plays basketball and runs track. Both were named to the Blue Ridge District All-Academic Athletic teams.
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshots) Wood, Huang.by CNB