After four stellar years on the football field, basketball court and in the classroom, Montezuma-Cortez High School senior Jonathan Walck has been awarded a Bill Gates Millennium Scholarship.
Walck was one of 1,000 high school students nationwide to receive the prestigious scholarship, which pays 100 percent of recipients’ education costs for up to 10 years of education.
Gates Millennium Scholarships are granted to low-income African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian-Pacific Islander American, and Hispanic American students to provide those students with an opportunity to complete their education.
“It’s a big honor and a big award,” said Walck, who expects to graduate next week as the Salutatorian of his high school class. “Applying for the scholarship was definitely a lot of work, and it took a lot of time, but it will pay for my education all the way through my doctorate.”
Walck said that he’ll use the scholarship to cover the cost of attending Stanford University, which accepted the senior earlier this year.
Walck, who was also accepted at Harvard University, Duke University, Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California, said that he chose Stanford because of the educational opportunities that the esteemed university offered.
“As far as education goes, Stanford provided me with the best opportunity for what I want to go into, which is aerospace engineering,” Walck said. “Nothing compared to the Stanford campus and, being a Pac-12 school, it will be a lot of fun to attend football games.”
During his time as a student at M-CHS, Walck quarterbacked the M-CHS football team to its first playoff appearance since 1994, started on M-CHS’ varsity basketball team and amassed a 4.2 grade point average. The senior was also a member of the National Honor Society, student government and participated in the school’s Talent Search program.
“M-CHS has definitely helped me a lot,” Walck said. “You hear people complain about our school all of the time, but that’s just not right because it’s just as good as every other school. Our top students here are just as good as top students anywhere else.”
Asked what allowed him to succeed as a student at M-CHS, Walck brought up lessons that he learned from numerous teachers, including math teacher Susan Wisenbaker and science teacher Eric Chandler. Walck also thanked school guidance counselors, administrators and coaches for helping him achieve success.
“If you use the resources that you have available, you can get in (to college) where you want,” said Walck. “We have amazing teachers here, and they push you just as hard as the teachers anywhere else.”
Walck then spoke about the support that he received from family members, including his father Lewis, his mother, Elsie, and his sister Emily, who graduated from M-CHS in 2013 and currently attends Stanford University.
“My parents and my sister have pushed me ever since I was in first grade,” Walck said. “They’ve been there to support me in anything that I’ve done, and that has been huge.”
