Richland Northeast High School student wins Gates Millennium Scholarship

COLUMBIA, SC – Another exemplary Richland Northeast High School senior has one less worry as she prepares for college this fall. Jekima Hibbert has been named a Gates Millennium Scholarship winner. She is the second Richland Northeast senior to win in as many years. In 2014, Qi Jin (Chee Jin) was selected and is attending the University of Chicago. Hibbert is one of 1,000 scholars in the Class of 2016 selected from a pool of more than 53,000 applicants. She is in the final class of high school recipients as the program funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation meets its goal of selecting 20,000 students from low-income backgrounds.

Hibbert says when she called her mom to tell her she won the scholarship, mom hung up the phone, waited 10 minutes and then called her back to be sure what she heard was true!

She added, “I applied for the scholarship because I wanted to go to school out-of-state and knew it would be very expensive.”

Gates Millennium Scholarships help reduce financial barriers for minority students to pursue higher education. Hibbert is the second of four siblings to attend college. She has been accepted to New York University (NYU), The University of Virginia and University of Miami. She will attend NYU. Gates scholars can use their scholarships to pursue degrees in any undergraduate major at an accredited college or university of their choice.

Guidance Counselor Tanya Amoako and Nina Brook, Director of the Convergence Media magnet program at Richland Northeast recommended Hibbert for the scholarship.

“She can be counted on to set and achieve her goals. She’s a responsible worker who does not need supervision to complete any task. Jekima gives her attention and effort to meeting the needs expressed by others while continuing to be true to herself,” said Amoako.

According to Brook, Hibbert has set some really impressive goals. “To start an NGO (non-governmental organization) to improve the literacy rate for women in Nigeria, and eventually lower their rate of developing AIDS; to establish urban farms in London or another city to combat hunger in large metropolitan areas; to improve funding for arts programs for young children of color in the United States; to eventually improve diversity in state philharmonics and orchestras – these are just some of them.”

Along with being an AP Scholar with Distinction, Hibbert is currently working on earning an iOS Swift Programming License that would allow her to develop apps. She has also taught herself how to use Adobe InDesign and Photoshop. She serves as the Editor in Chief of the school’s newspaper.  Since she has been on the staff, she has written several pieces that have led to first place prizes at state and national conferences. She also serves as student body president where her focus has been to increase student and faculty school spirit by encouraging the use of #ItsLitAtRNE on social media posts and community service and spirit events.

She is a member of the National Honor Society, the National Art Honor Society, a member of the South Carolina Youth Philharmonic, H.O.P.E. 365 (Helping Other People Everywhere), and the Quill and Scroll.

Hibbert is the third Richland Two student to win the scholarship. Gregory Branch, a 1997 graduate of Spring Valley High School, was in the inaugural Class of 2000 winners.