SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes have selected Wilcox High School senior Noama Iftekhar as their recipient of a $3,000 scholarship in conjunction with the Bay Area All-Star Scholarship Team (BAASST) Program.
Iftekhar was presented with her scholarship check in front of classmates and teachers at her school in Santa Clara on Thursday, March 22.
Iftekhar ranks near the very top of her class of over 450 students in maintaining a 4.67 grade-point average while taking a course-load of all AP (Advanced Placement) classes. She has not received a grade lower than an A- throughout her high school career. Outside of the classroom, she is a member of the varsity tennis team at Wilcox, and has previously volunteered as a peer counselor for an online crisis intervention program in Santa Clara, and as a play therapist with young cancer victims in a hospital in Pakistan. Iftekhar also served as a fundraiser for the hospital in Lahore, which provides free medical care to the impoverished afflicted with cancer, and plans another trip in the near future.
The Earthquakes had previously announced their partnership with BAASST, joining the Golden State Warriors, Oakland Athletics, Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers, San Francisco Giants and San Jose Sharks in awarding a $3,000 scholarship to a deserving college-bound student on behalf of the Earthquakes Community Fund. In addition to earning the prestigious award, the recipients will be recognized during ceremonies at the various home venues of participating teams around the Bay Area.
Each local participating franchise contributes to the scholarship program in a collective effort to assist Bay Area high school students in achieving their goals of higher education. The unique committee is the first of its kind in the realm of professional sports.
The BAASST scholarships are awarded to seven outstanding and well-rounded students residing within the Bay Area’s nine counties, as all seven participating teams choose their own recipient. Selection criteria includes being a college-bound senior currently attending a Bay Area public high school, being a legal U.S. resident, displaying leadership qualities in and out of the classroom, having a minimum grade-point average of 3.0 from their sophomore to senior year of high school, and demonstrating the value of education, a good work ethic, community outreach, and a commitment to extracurricular activities.
