13-year-old gets national scholarship for gifted students

A Las Vegas teenager will receive a national scholarship for gifted students to pay for high school tuition.

Alesya Hathaway is among 27 recipients of the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship announced last month. The scholarship is awarded by the Institute for Educational Advancement, a nonprofit based in Pasadena, California.

Alesya could receive upward of $200,000 for four years of high school expenses, depending on the school or program she chooses. She also will receive help with identifying high school programs, completing applications and preparing education plans.

“I applied for the scholarship really just because I wanted to find a good fit high school,” the 13-year-old said Wednesday.

The Summerlin resident, who’s in eighth grade at California-based Stanford Online High School, said she also wanted to be part of the community of scholars through the program.

Alesya said she was “so surprised” to find out last month that she was named a recipient. “I remember running down to tell my parents the great news.”

She said she’s grateful to be chosen out of an amazing group of students who are “strong and motivated.”

Seventh grade students applied last school year for the merit-based high school scholarship. The application process included submitting essays, middle school transcripts, letters of recommendation, a work sample and standardized test scores.

“As we celebrate our 25th anniversary as an organization that supports bright, young minds, we are reminded of how important this scholarship is for the 27 students who will benefit from an academically advanced high school program that will meet their highly intellectual needs,” said Elizabeth Jones, president and co-founder of the Institute for Educational Advancement, in a news release.

Alesya has taken online classes through Stanford Online High School, a private school affiliated with Stanford University, since seventh grade.

Before that, she attended a few other public and private schools across the Las Vegas Valley.

Applying for the scholarship

Alesya started working on her scholarship application in January and finished in March. And she submitted test scores in May.

Alesya said she had to write a few essays that were reflective prompts, noting she hadn’t previously written much about herself.

“The prompts were all really fun to consider,” she said.

After finding out she was offered a scholarship interview, she spent about a month preparing. An in-person interview was conducted in August in Henderson.

Now, Alesya is looking into in-person high school options around the Las Vegas Valley. She said the online school she is attending is also high on her list because she’s enjoying it.

Alesya’s academic interests include theoretical physics, philosophy and computer science.

She co-leads a sustainability club at her school. She also enjoys sketching plants and painting landscapes, playing jazz guitar and constructing LEGO modular buildings.

She is among more than 400 students who have received the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship since its inception in 2002.

Over the years, several Las Vegas area-students have been awarded the scholarship. Past local recipients are Sriya Wint in 2021, Miranda DeRossi in 2014 and Marisa Mission in 2012.

This story has been updated to include the name of a Las Vegas-area past recipient.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on X.