Foot Locker surprises 2 Collier students with $20,000 scholarships

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla.- Two high school seniors got $20,000 surprises Tuesday morning. They were both presented with a large scholarship check from Foot Locker.

“We are here today to recognize someone for great effort, work, character,” said Gulf Coast High School Principal Joseph Mikulski.

Elizabeth Roux tried to cover the excitement on her face right before the big announcement. “I didn’t expect it at all,” she said. “I was really taken by surprise.”

The Gulf Coast senior is the captain of her cross country team and maintains a perfect GPA. Those are just some of the qualifications needed to get the scholarship.

After going through the application process, Roux never heard back from Foot Locker. “It’s really rare for students to get this.”

Principal Mikulski was in on the surprise.

“I think it’s amazing for kids to realize school’s a job and you have to work hard at it and when you do you get rewarded,” said Mikulski. “Elizabeth is just one of many getting the rewards from it.”

Roux and Immokalee High School senior Regine Francois were among only 20 student-athletes across the country to receive the award this year. More than 30,000 applied.

“This will help tremendously,” said Roux, who was accepted to two prestigious universities. After visiting them this weekend, she revealed to WINK News where she has decided to go.

“Stanford was an amazing school, but when I step foot on the Harvard campus, it just felt like home. So I decided to attend Harvard University Class of 2019 and I’ll be committing tonight when I get home from school.”

Foot Locker started this scholarship program in 2012. Since then they have helped 80 student-athletes, paying out a total of $1.6 million.