Mayor's Honors Scholars Program Announces Recipients of Three Scholarship Awards

NJIT President Joel S. Bloom and Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka officially announced the three students selected as Mayor’s Honors Scholars from the high school class of 2019 on June 28, 2019 in NJIT’s Albert Dorman Honors College (ADHC).

In his introductory remarks, Bloom described how students enrolled at the ADHC have a wealth of opportunities to optimize their own educational path.

“You have a palette here that you can fill however you want to proceed,” he said.  

Natasha Rogers, Interim Deputy Mayor/Director of Economic and Housing Development and COO of the City of Newark, explained that the goal of this partnership is to become more familiar with residents of the community and incorporate issues of public concern.

“You are exemplary models to follow,” she said. “We hope that you will be inspired to work at City Hall.”

In February 2019, NJIT, the City of Newark and the Newark Public Schools announced the Mayor’s Honors Scholars Program at NJIT, which was designed to create a pipeline from the Newark Public Schools to NJIT’s prestigious and top-ranked ADHC. Each year, NJIT will work with the Newark Public Schools to select Mayor’s Honors Scholars for admission to ADHC. These students will receive full scholarships as well as paid internships with the City of Newark during the summer months. The students are:

Samara and Samantha Augustin – Samara and Samantha are twins whose parents emigrated to the United States from Haiti. They lost their father seven years ago in an accident. They both are graduates of Science Park High School. Samantha was a member of the robotics, environmental science and UNICEF clubs. She was a Governor’s STEM Scholar and president of the National Honor Society as well as a member of the track team. At NJIT, she will major in Biology, and her career goal is to establish her own ophthalmology practice in Newark. Samara was a member of the Pay It Forward, Honoring Our Elders and UNICEF clubs. She was a Governor’s STEM scholar and a member of the National Honor Society who also ran track. She plans to major in Computer Science at NJIT and hopes to become the CIO for a major corporation.

Kiaja Jones is a graduate of Technology High School. She is a soprano, trombonist and bowler, was a member of the Math Club and was a Sadie Nash Fellow working on gender and social justice issues. She plans to major in Computer Science and hopes to study abroad while at NJIT.

Fostering Future Leaders 

The Mayor’s Honors Scholars Program seeks to foster the future leaders of Newark and the nation. In addition to the Mayor’s Honors Scholars Program, collaborations between NJIT and the City of Newark include the NJIT/Newark Math Success Initiative, an expansive pre-college program, 60,000+ hours of community service annually, teacher training, curriculum development and many more educational as well as economic and community development efforts.