Two Ooltewah students named Haslam Scholars

Braden Lype, left, and Ben Cruz stand in the Ooltewah High School library on May 27, 2016.
Braden Lype, left, and Ben Cruz stand in the Ooltewah High School library on May 27, 2016.

The only two students in the Chattanooga area to receive and accept Haslam scholarships to the University of Tennessee graduated from Ooltewah High School.

"This is an example of the quality education that these students are exposed to at Ooltewah High School," said Assistant Principal Sylvia Hutsell.

Ben Cruz plans to major in bio systems engineer at UT, and Braden Lype will major in nursing. Haslam Scholars receive a full ride to UT.

After three former Ooltewah High School students where charged with the aggravated rape and aggravated assault of a fellow student earlier this school year, students and staff say they want to highlight news more reflective of the overall student body at the school.

Lype and Cruz said they sat in a room with about 30 finalists for the scholarship, all of them great students and deserving of the honor. The two OHS students and 13 others - 12 Tennessee students and one from North Carolina - made the final cut.

Another student from the area was offered the scholarship, the OHS scholars said, but she declined because she accepted a scholarship to a different school.

Not only will Lype and Cruz receive a full scholarship to UT, as Scholars they will also get an all-expenses-paid trip to Scotland and financial support needed to complete their theses.

The two said they were both shocked and excited to learn they had been selected. Then they both considered the responsibility that comes with the investment made to their lives.

"The realization falls on you that you've been granted this opportunity," said Cruz. "They're not just throwing money at you, they're investing in what they think you can become. It's an opportunity for you to develop as a person, a person who can help the community, not only locally, but globally as well."

Teachers describe the two as hard workers and modest men of integrity.

Both graduated with A averages and were among the top 10 in their graduating class. Both are members of the Beta Club, an academic and community service club, and the National Honor Society.

Cruz is president of Interfaith society, a forum where people of various religious backgrounds discuss solutions for different issues, and vice president of the chess club.

Lype is a skilled piano player and captain of the tennis team. He won district tournaments twice in a row during his junior and senior years.

"The same adjectives can be used to describe both of them," said OHS International Baccalaureate English teacher Mark Hamby. "They're both very industrious in their work. They're not one to cut corners by any means. They're not satisfied with just knowing the answer, they want to know their journey to the answer."

The 15 Haslam Scholars will live together and volunteer at area schools together with an overall goal of making the world a better place.

Both OHS students have already demonstrated that ethic: Cruz is a hard worker - the first one to help you pick up trash in the classroom, said Hamby. And "[Lype] is always doing what he's suppose to be doing, regardless of who is watching. Great integrity. Great character," said Brian Hitchcox, leadership coordinator and OHS International Baccalaureate history teacher.

Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6431.

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