Way to Go! Hicksville student named 2020 Coca-Cola Scholar
Alaha Nasari, a senior at Hicksville High School, is among 150 students nationwide named 2020 Coca-Cola Scholars. Credit: Maeryam Nasari
A Hicksville High School student is among 150 high school seniors nationwide named 2020 Coca-Cola Scholars, a designation that comes with a $20,000 college scholarship.
Alaha Nasari, 18, was selected from more than 93,000 applicants based on her leadership skills, community service and academic achievements by the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation. She was the only student selected from Long Island.
Two other Long Island students, Nicholas Donatelli of Chaminade High School in Mineola and Jake Stoller of Roslyn High School, were among 251 regional finalists.
"I hope I'm able to serve as a role model for other first-generation students," said Nasari, whose parents were born in Afghanistan.
Outside of school, Nasari has volunteered with Hicksville Pediatrics and the Children's Center at Nassau County Family Court, tutored with the Kumon Math and Reading Center, and is involved with the Breast Cancer Comfort Foundation. She has also coordinated a school supply drive for children in Afghanistan and co-authored a research project presented at an annual conference of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology.
In school, Nasari is corresponding secretary of the National Honor Society, treasurer of the Social Studies Honor Society, an officer in the Natural Helpers and Ecology clubs, and a member of five other honor societies. She also cofounded a mentoring program and a science education program for her district's younger students.
— MICHAEL R. EBERT
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
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