Two Dayton High School seniors – Jordan Cantrell and Zach Pike – are among a group of 7,500 students selected as School Winners in Wendy’s annual scholarship program. They were picked from a total applicant pool of 42,000 high school scholar-athletes graduating with the Class of 2019.
School Winners will continue to compete for the chance to become State Finalists, State Winners, National Finalists or National Winners. State Winners receive a $500 college scholarship, National Finalists receive a $1,000 college scholarship and the male and female National Winners receive a $5,000 college scholarship and trip to New York City to attend the Heisman Trophy Trust’s annual college Heisman award broadcast on Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018.
To apply, students must be graduating with the class of 2019, have a cumulative high school grade point average of a B (3.0) or better, participate in at least one of the 47 sports recognized by the International Olympic Committee and/or the National Federation of State High School Association and be a leader in his/her school and community.
The Wendy’s High School Heisman was created by Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas in 1994. Dave Thomas dropped out of high school when he was 15 years old in order to work full-time and went on to become one of the most successful entrepreneurs in history. While this nontraditional path led to his prosperity, it always worried Dave that others would follow in his footsteps and expect to achieve similar fame and wealth by not finishing high school or attending college.
Faced with this dilemma, at 61 years old, Dave enrolled at Coconut Creek High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and received his General Equivalency Diploma (GED). Inspired by this moment and with a desire to celebrate the outstanding achievements of youth in America, he launched the Wendy’s High School Heisman program.
Twenty-five years later, Wendy’s High School Heisman has honored more than 600,000 of the nation’s most esteemed high school seniors who share Wendy’s values of giving back to their communities, treating people with respect, continuing education and excelling on the athletic field.
The Wendy’s High School Heisman is a joint program between Wendy’s and the Heisman Trophy Trust, host and custodians of the Heisman Memorial Trophy®.
A complete list of School Winners can be found at www.wendysheisman.com/results/.