Each year, money is generously donated by Geographic Solutions’ employees to fund the Paul Toomey IT Scholarship. The amount is then matched by company Founder and President, Paul Toomey. With the money being collected through the end of November 2023, we sent out the call for applications early this year. The application process was open to the children of Geographic Solutions employees and all Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas County seniors. This year enough money was raised to award four scholarships – more than ever before! Each scholarship recipient received $3,800 which they can use towards credit hours, housing, or curriculum supplies.
Criteria for the scholarship included the demonstration of above-average achievement and motivation towards advancing his or her education in a computer-related field, outstanding service to their school and the community, involvement in extracurricular events, and admirable character. Each applicant was also required to submit an essay detailing what influenced them to pursue a computer-related field of study.
This year we received a record 32 applications! Geographic Solutions’ scholarship committee reviewed these applications thoroughly and chose the four students that best represented the criteria and Geographic Solutions' values.
The Four Recipients of the 2024 Paul Toomey IT Scholarship Are:
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 Justin Heyman – Lutz, FL
Justin is a dedicated student at Steinbrenner High School. He serves as the Band Section Leader and the Metropolitan Ministries Event Planner/Coordinator. Additionally, he is an active member of the National Honor Society, has been recognized as a National Merit Commended Student, and received the Quincy Jones Musicianship Award. Justin plans to pursue a career in a computer-related field after high school, driven by his belief that this will allow him to make a meaningful impact in today’s world. Fun fact: Justin joined us many times for Take Your Kids to Work Day where he shadowed our tech team! |
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Christian Ramos – Riverview, FL
Christian is an actively involved student at Riverview High school. He is involved in Buddy Baseball, a recreation baseball league for players with disabilities, the Raspberry Pi Club, a school computer programming club, and FCA, a faith-based athletic club. He excels academically, maintaining high honor roll status and holds a Microsoft Technology Certification. With a passion for technology, Christian plans to become a software developer, and has studied programming languages like Python, HTML, and CSS. Christian dreams of designing an educational software to support individuals with different types of disabilities. |
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 Hanlin Zhang – Valrico, FL
Hanlin Zhang is an accomplished and ambitious high school senior at Strawberry Crest High School. Hanlin’s academic success includes top placements in FBLA Computer Game and Simulation Design and MU Alpha Theta Calculus competitions. He is also certified as a Microsoft Office Specialist and Adobe Certified Professional. Hanlin contributes to the community by preparing and delivering meals to the homeless though the Portamento of Hope Cafe. He plans to pursue a career as a software engineer and will begin his journey at the University of Florida, where he has been accepted into the honors program.
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 Sarthak Gupta – Tampa, FL
Sarthak, a senior at Strawberry Crest High School, has an impressive background, including winning first place in the Congressional App Challenge for developing Signify, an AI app that translates American Sign Language to text and speech. He is also a PSAT/NMSQT National Merit Finalist and a state finalist in the 2024 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition for his work on a pest-identifying robot. Sarthak is active in school and community activities. He is the captain of the Strawberry Crest Varsity Tennis Team and founded the Artificial Intelligence Club. He also has dedicated over 100 hours to Feeding Tampa Bay. Sarthak plans to pursue a career as a software engineer, aiming to contribute to impactful technological advancements.
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Since the scholarship was established in 2016 and first awarded in 2017, the Paul Toomey IT Scholarship has helped 14 high-achieving high school seniors in their pursuit of computer-related degrees. Now, a total of 18 scholarships have been awarded! We want to thank everyone who donated to this worthy cause!
Congratulations to each of the recipients! And thank you to every employee that donated to help make their dreams a reality!