The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) Scholarship Fund presents the 2014 Academic and Art Merit Awards which were bestowed to 28 Foreign Service high school seniors whose parents are AFSA members on May 2, 2014. A total of 94 students submitted applications in this year’s competition. Recipients receive $2,500 as winners and $1,000 and $750 as honorable mention winners. Judges are members from the AFSA Scholarship Committee and individuals from the Foreign Service community. The prizes total $48,500 this year. Nine named awards have been established and are bestowed to the highest scoring students.

For more information on the AFSA Scholarship Program, visit www.afsa.org/scholar.

Academic Merit Award Winners - $2,500

Grace Bachman — daughter of Brian Bachman (State) and Jan Fisher-Bachman; graduated from Chantilly High School Chantilly, Virginia; attending Endicott College; majoring in Business. Recognized as the Embassy Risk Management Scholar.

Sarah Carlson — daughter of Mark Carlson (State) and Melinda Carlson graduated from Grace International School in Chiang Mai, Thailand; attending University of Virginia; majoring in Education. Recognized as the John C. and Nancy S. Leary Memorial Scholar.

Greer Christensen-Gibbons — daughter of Karen Christensen (State) and Thomas Gibbons (State) graduated from John F. Kennedy School in Berlin, Germany; attending Brown University; majoring in History.

Amelia Goldrup — daughter of Stephen Goldrup (State) and Nicole Price; graduated from American Embassy School in New Delhi, India; attending Princeton University; majoring in Math.

Carsten Haas — son of Peter Haas (State) and Amy Haas; graduated from American School of Bombay in Mumbai, India; attending Macalester College with an undeclared major.

Timothy Kostelancik — son of David Kostelancik (State) and Patricia Kostelancik (State); graduated from Langley High School in McLean, Virginia; attending Middlebury College; majoring in Foreign Language. Recognized as the Donald S. Spigler Memorial and Maria Giuseppa Spigler Scholar.

Natalie Mango — daughter of David Mango (State) and Jennifer Mango; graduated from American International School in Vienna, Austria; attending Leiden University College in the Netherlands with an undeclared major. Recognized as the Joanna and Robert Martin Scholar.

Connor McKinney — son of Christopher McKinney (State) and Tracy McKinney; graduated from George Washington High School in Charleston, West Virginia; attending University of California at Berkeley; majoring in Political Science. Recognized as the Joanna and Robert Martin Scholar.

Benjamin "Phoenix" Morrison — son of Stephen Morrison (FCS) and Carol Fishback; graduated from St. Anselm's Abbey School in Washington, D.C.; attending Vassar College; majoring in Physics. Recognized as the John and Priscilla Becker Family Scholar.

Morgan Pratt — son of Adrian Pratt (State) and Margaret Pratt; graduated from American Embassy School of New Delhi in New Delhi, India; attending University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; majoring in Mathematics. Recognized as the CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Federal Employee Program Scholar.

Rebecca Sarfati — daughter of Linda Daetwyler (State) and Mark Sarfati; graduated from Seoul Foreign School in Seoul, South Korea; attending Brown University; majoring in Law. Recognized as the CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Federal Employee Program Scholar and the Art Merit Winner for her creative writing submission that included a poem, “Regression” and short story, “Red.”

Kathleen Saunders — daughter of Robert Saunders (State) and Wendy Saunders; graduated from Ankara Elementary/High School in Ankara, India; attending University of New Mexico with an undeclared major.

Jackson Steger — son of Stephen Steger (State) and Stacey Steger; graduated from Colegio Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Lima, Peru; attending Duke University; majoring in Biology. Recognized as the Turner C. Cameron, Jr. Scholar.

Academic Merit Award - Honorable Mention Winners - $1,000

Easwari Amirthanayagam — daughter of Aruna Amirthanayagam (State) and Vathani Amirthanayagam (USAID); graduated from American Cooperative School in La Paz, Bolivia; attending Brown University; majoring in Psychology.

Salvatore Capriglione — son of Pasquale Capriglione (State) and Tonya Capriglione; graduated from Point Pleasant Beach High School in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey; attending George Washington University; majoring in Political Science.

Frank Keat — son of Stephen Keat (State) and Josie Keat; graduated from West Potomac High School in Alexandria, Virginia; attending University of Virginia; majoring in Business.

Gracia Luoma-Overstreet — daughter of Charles Luoma-Overstreet (State) and Kristine Luoma-Overstreet; graduated from American School of Warsaw in Warsaw, Poland; attending College of William & Mary; majoring in Biology.

Daniel Lyng — son of Theodore Lyng (State) and Muliani Lyng; graduated from Jakarta International School in Jakarta, India; attending George Washington University; majoring in Political Science.

Ashley Miller — daughter of Daniel Miller (USAID) and Ai Chin Wee; graduated from International School Manila in Taguig, Philippines; attending Tufts University; majoring in Literature.

Jordan Rohrlich — son of Paul Rohrlich (State) and Susan Sandler; graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire; attending University of Virginia; majoring in Economics.

Olivia Sullivan — daughter of Ellen Kresen Sullivan (State) and William Sullivan (State); graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia; attending St. Olaf College; majoring in Biology.

Edgar Thornton IV — son of Edgar Thornton (USAID) and Deborah Thornton; graduated from Iowa City High School in Iowa City, Iowa; attending Harvard University; majoring in Engineering.

Maya Yu — daughter of Alan Yu (State) and Sharon Yanagi; graduated from Georgetown Day School in Washington, DC; attending University of California - Los Angeles; majoring in Chemistry.