Jerin Alexander, Tyner Academy’s 2012 valedictorian, has received $500,000 in scholarship offers to attend college where he hopes to pursue a career in pediatric nursing.When Jerin Alexander, 17, started kindergarten at Bess T. Shepherd Elementary, he spoke no English other than “hi” and “bye.” Unable to communicate using his native language from India, he was placed in a remedial English class for two years, he said.
In May, Jerin will graduate from Tyner Academy with highest academic honors. He is class valedictorian, holding a flawless 4.0 grade-point average.
Jerin’s academic achievement is notable for another numeric distinction: He has received $543,820 in combined scholarship offers from the 12 colleges to which he applied.
To put that in perspective, Sarah Broadnax, college adviser with the Public Education Foundation placed at Tyner, said the 110 students in Tyner’s class of 2011 received a total of $4 million in offers.
Broadnax said no other valedictorian in the eight years she has been at Tyner has achieved such a significant amount.