ANNAPOLIS, Md., April 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Comcast Foundation, founded in 1999 to provide charitable support to its local communities and to empower and enrich lives, is awarding 97 Maryland high school seniors scholarships through its annual Leaders and Achievers® Scholarship Program. The program, one of the Comcast Foundation's signature community investment programs, recognizes students' leadership skills, academic achievement and commitment to community service.

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Comcast, joined by Governor Martin O'Malley, Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Dr. Nancy Grasmick and state legislators, recognized the students at a special event held at the Miller Senate Office Building in Annapolis yesterday. Ninety-six of the 2011 Maryland Leaders and Achievers recipients received $1,000 scholarships and Abida Kazmi of Parkville High School in Baltimore County was awarded a $10,000 Comcast Founders Scholarship -- instituted in honor of Ralph J. Roberts, Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Comcast Corporation -- for a total of $106,000 awarded this year. After a prize drawing, seven students were also given an iPad to use at college.

"Education is a top priority in the state of Maryland, and we work hard to provide our students with opportunities to succeed at every level," said Governor O'Malley. "I applaud Comcast's commitment to developing our future leaders and helping them achieve their dreams of higher education."

"I am pleased to join Comcast in honoring these students for both their academic accomplishments and civic involvement," said Dr. Grasmick. "Comcast has been a partner dedicated to Maryland public education and we are grateful to them for helping our students continue their educational careers."

"Comcast supports a number of programs that help motivate young people to reach their full potential and make a positive difference in their communities," said Tom Coughlin, regional senior vice president for Comcast. "We are proud to honor this group of outstanding students for their commitment to their futures."

The Comcast Leaders and Achievers® Scholarship Program provides one-time $1000 scholarships to students who strive to achieve their potential, who are catalysts for positive change in their communities, who are involved in their schools, and who serve as models for their fellow students. The philosophy behind the program is to give young people every opportunity to be prepared for the future, to engage youth in their communities, and to demonstrate the importance of civic involvement, and the value placed on civic involvement by the business community.

Since the program's inception there have been over 15,000 scholarship winners totaling more than $15.4 million.

2011 Comcast Leaders and Achievers® Scholarship Winners from Maryland

SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS (by County where high school is located):

Anne Arundel

Samantha Foggan of Old Mill High School in Millersville

Melissa Leaf of Northeast High School in Pasadena

Leah Levendusky of South River High School in Edgewater

Brooke Mackall of Glen Burnie High School

Panayiotis Papaleonti of Annapolis High School

Devin Price of Annapolis Area Christian School in Severn

Nancy Puckett of Puckett Home Education Tutorial Program in Odenton

Hemi Thaker of Broadneck High School in Annapolis

Baltimore City

Tavon Betts of Academy for College and Career Exploration

Marybeth Bindel of Mercy High School

Christian Conaway of Frederick Douglass High School

Rachel Craig of Forest Park Senior High School

Jenah Everage of W.E.B. DuBois High School

Ciera Gaskins of Patterson High School

Taylor Gordon of Vivien T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy

Christopher Lane of Baltimore School for the Arts

Paige Lauenstein of Catholic High School of Baltimore

Kai-li Liang of Mount St. Joseph High School

Morgan Paige of Saint Frances Academy

Davina Pratt of the Institute of Notre Dame

Chavette Shaw of Western High School

E'Mynie Smith of Reginald F. Lewis High School

Shakiera Walker of Maritime Industries Academy High School

Baltimore County

Felicia Baney of Lansdowne High School in Baltimore

Tykeia Blue of Overlea High School in Baltimore

Daeyjunaey Evans of Chesapeake High School in Baltimore

Shontel Gaskin of New Town High School in Owings Mills

Ashley Gast of Maryvale Preparatory School in Brooklandville

Jann Grovogui of Towson High School

Abida Kazmi of Parkville High School in Baltimore

Jahannah Kincheloe of Randallstown High School

Hager Koraym of Eastern Tech High School in Baltimore

Seongwoo Lee of Carver Center for Arts & Technology in Towson

Chasity Robinson of Woodlawn High School in Baltimore

Jacob Shapiro of Jemicy School in Owings Mills

Dobian Smith of Milford Mill Academy in Baltimore

David Song of Dulaney High School in Timonium

Salam Syed of Western School of Technology in Baltimore

Caroline

Typhannie Hall of North Caroline High School in Ridgely

Carroll

Chelsea Calambro of Liberty High School in Eldersburg

Suprit Singh of Westminster Senior High School

Sahel Uddin of North Carroll High School in Hampstead

Cecil

Devon Freudenberger of Elkton High School

Kayce Strickland of North East High School

Katelyn Wray of Rising Sun High School

Charles

Emmanuel Bakare of Thomas Stone High School in Waldorf

Jessica Davis of Henry E. Lackey High School in Indian Head

Shaun Gardiner of Maurice J. Mcdonough High School in Pomfret

Christopher Lawrence of North Point High School for Science, Technology & Industry in Waldorf

Kayla Marshall of Westlake High School in Waldorf

Frederick

Shelby Coghill of Brunswick High School

Jennifer Johnson of Governor Thomas Johnson High School in Frederick

Harford

Hailey Cramer of Aberdeen High School

Alicen Jobes of Havre De Grace High School

Kelly Kundratic of Harford Technical High School in Bel Air

Caitlyn McSorley of Bel Air High School

Howard

Ruqayyah Albaari of Hammond High School in Columbia

Fabian Castro of Long Reach High School in Columbia

Jason Cho of Reservoir High School in Fulton

Monique Jenkins of Mt. Hebron High School in Ellicott City

Akua Nimarko of Wilde Lake High School in Columbia

Alexa Olney of Glenelg Country School in Ellicott City

Montgomery

Fidelia Zelaya Aleman of Wheaton High School in Silver Spring

Janeah Alexis of Sandy Spring Friends School

Tania Alvarez of John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring

Katrina Hauprich of Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville

Wagas Janjari of Watkins Mill High School in Gaithersburg

Lenjo Kilo of Northwood High School in Silver Spring

Jennifer Lien of James Hubert Blake High School in Silver Spring

Chelsea Ortiz of Col. Zadok Magruder High School in Rockville

Justin Rheingold of Winston Churchill High School in Potomac

Christian Ribeiro of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School

Michael Toomer of Gaithersburg High School

Jose Torres of The Frost School in Rockville

Sheldon Trotman of Northwest High School in Germantown

Marisa Tukpah of Seneca Valley High School in Germantown

Michael Washington of Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville

Tin Lok Wong of Sherwood High School in Sandy Spring

Prince George's

Olasubomi Adesoye of Laurel High School

Cortez Duncan of Princeton Day Academy in Lanham

Robert George of Fairmont Heights High School in Capitol Heights

Iza Goins of Elizabeth Seton High School in Bladensburg

Tiffani Headly of Oxon Hill High School

Damian Malcolm of High Point High School in Beltsville

Nkemdilim Ndum of Bowie High School

Jonathan Noland of St. Vincent Pallotti High School in Laurel

Amanda Nwaopara of Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School in Upper Marlboro

Christine Oliveros of Potomac High School in Oxon Hill

Darien Pusey of Riverdale Baptist School in Upper Marlboro

Qamber Sikander of Parkdale High School in Riverdale

Paige Telesford of Central High School in Capitol Heights

Daria Walker of Frederick Douglass High School in Upper Marlboro

Maya Wells of Grace Brethren Christian School in Clinton

Wicomico

Rebecca Parsons of The Salisbury School

Rebecca Pierson of James M. Bennett Senior High School in Salisbury

Nicole Snitzer of Parkside Senior High School in Salisbury

Worcester

Carson Wigley of Worcester Preparatory School in Berlin

About the Comcast Foundation

The Comcast Foundation was founded by Comcast Corporation in June 1999 to provide charitable support to qualified non-profit organizations. The Foundation primarily invests in programs intended to have a positive, sustainable impact on their communities. The Foundation's focus areas are volunteerism, literacy, and youth leadership development. Since its inception, the Comcast Foundation has donated more than $64 million to organizations in the communities nationwide that Comcast serves. More information about the Foundation and its programs is available at www.comcast.com/inthecommunity.

About Comcast

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (www.comcast.com) is one of the nation's leading providers of entertainment, information and communications products and services. Comcast is principally involved in the operation of cable systems through Comcast Cable and in the development, production and distribution of entertainment, news, sports and other content for global audiences through NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable is one of the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone providers to residential and business customers. Comcast is the majority owner and manager of NBCUniversal, which owns and operates entertainment and news cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, local television station groups, television production operations, a major motion picture company and theme parks.

SOURCE Comcast