Hawthorne High School senior, Jacob Meza, has been selected as a 2014 Horatio Alger National Scholar. This honor, which acknowledges a student’s determination and hard work, is granted to only 106 high school seniors nationally each year. Along with the National Scholar designation, Meza will receive a $21,000 college scholarship, an all-expenses-paid, five-day trip to the 2014 Horatio Alger National Scholars Conference in Washington DC in April, as well as the opportunity to apply to a group of selected colleges that agree to match the Horatio Alger scholarship funds.

Hawthorne High School Principal, Barry Cohen, believes that Jacob Meza is highly qualified and deserving of this award. “The fact that Jacob is one of only 106 students named nationally, only three from New Jersey, as recipients of this prestigious award and scholarship speaks volumes about Jacob’s character and the qualities that he exhibits on a daily basis whether, in the halls, classrooms, or on the athletic playing field at HHS. The administration and faculty are extremely proud of all of Jacob’s accomplishments. Throughout his four years he has demonstrated individual initiative and a commitment to excellence as exemplified by remarkable achievements through honesty, hard work, self-reliance and perseverance over adversity.”

Meza says he was ecstatic when he heard he won this award. “It’s great to have an opportunity to represent my school and acknowledge all the great teachers I’ve had along the way.”
According to its literature, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc., is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1947 to combat a growing attitude among young people that economic opportunity was thing of the past. The Association strives to motivate and educate America’s young people about the economic and personal opportunities afforded them through the American free-enterprise system. The Association celebrates the “Horatio Alger heroes” of today by presenting Horatio Alger Awards to create “heroes” of the future.