Clarksville Community School Corporation is proud to announce two Clarksville High School seniors have been named Lilly Endowment Scholarship Winners!
Jackson Mullins and Leila Sidahmed will both receive full-tuition for four years to any Indiana public or private college, plus a stipend for books.
The Lilly Endowment Scholarship is highly competitive. It’s offered by the Lilly Endowment, Inc. and administered through the Community Foundation of Southern Indiana. Each year, 143 students are selected among all Indiana school districts. It’s a big deal for any school corporation to have one student selected- much less two, from such a small student body.
Mullins received the news first, via e-mail. He contacted Sidahmed and encouraged her to check her inbox.
“When I saw the e-mail … and it said ‘Congratulations you’re a Lilly Scholar’ I ran down the stairs to tell my Dad and everyone was like so happy,” Sidahmed recalls. “I was jumping around. It was so much fun.”
“It’s such a big deal for me, personally,” Mullins explains. “For my family- it takes the burden off of having to pay that tuition.”
Mullins plans to attend Butler University or Purdue University, to study pharmacy. Sidahmed is considering Indiana University or Ball State, to study bio-chemistry. Her goal is to become a doctor.
Mullins and Sidahmed will be ahead of the curve, whichever college they choose. Both have taken advantage of the free dual-credit courses offered at CHS. Mullins will graduate with 78 college credit hours. Sidahmed will have 87! That means both students will already have an associate’s degree, before they step foot on campus.
“We’re really grateful to our school for pushing us,” Sidahmed says. “The staff is really tremendous, honestly. It’s like a little family here.”
Both Clarksville High School seniors credit the rigorous coursework and staff support they’ve received at Clarksville Schools for their success.
“They’ve given us mentors, counselors, teachers- great people to help us with these applications, writing our essays and just getting the best image out of ourselves. And that’s really helped us,” Mullins says.
“They always push us to do whatever we think we can do,” Sidahmed adds.
The day we sat down for an interview, Mullins was beaming with pride while showing off a big white envelope from Butler University. “They’re going to cover room and board and all meals and everything, so it’s pretty much like a full-ride for four years at Butler,” Mullins gushes. He says that offer was made after the University learned he was a Lilly Scholar.