They snag two of the three statewide $1,000 Scobee Scholarships for talented math and science students.
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK, Times Staff Writer
Published December 4, 2005
TAMPA - Two New Tampa high school students have snagged top honors from the state's leading association for gifted education.
Wharton High School senior Justus Roberts II of Hunter's Green and King High School senior Rohini Komarla of Tampa Palms won two of the three Scobee Scholarships for outstanding math and science students from the Florida Association for the Gifted.
The $1,000 scholarships were created in memory of Francis R. "Dick" Scobee, commander of the space shuttle Challenger when it exploded after launch on Jan. 28, 1986.
Usually, the organization gives out just two awards. Having the scholarships go to students from the same county also is highly unusual, said Lauri Kirsch, Hillsborough schools supervisor of gifted and talented programs and also an association board member.
But this year's group of applicants proved too difficult to trim any further, she and other association members said.
"These are two kids that might change the world," said Anne Faivus, chair of the association's awards committee. "That's what we look for."
Roberts, 17, won "Best of Fair" at the Hillsborough County Science & Engineering Fair in February and later took third place at a state fair and fourth in the International Science and Engineering Fair.
He has been studying how stem cells might treat the secondary effects of a stroke and hopes to become a cardiologist.
Komarla, 17, has received numerous national awards for her volunteer work at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, where she also has helped with research on breast cancer. She plans to become a radiation oncologist.
Enrolled in King's International Baccalaureate program, Komarla is expected to graduate in the top 1 percent of all Hillsborough County seniors.
Ugwechi Amadi of Lawton Chiles High School in Tallahassee was the third scholarship recipient.
