Del Valle student awarded $40K Amazon engineering scholarship

DEL VALLE, Texas (KXAN) -- A Del Valle High School student was named a recipient of the Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship, which includes a $40,000 scholarship to study computer science or engineering at their school of choice, as well as a paid Amazon internship following their freshman year of college.

Del Valle High School senior Noel Mendez was just one of 400 high school seniors across the country named as a recipient. The scholarship sought out eligible students from underserved communities.

And Mendez has plenty to celebrate: He found out in mid-April he has been accepted into Harvard University, where he will attend in the fall following his graduation from Del Valle ISD later this month.

Statewide, 52 students from Texas were awarded the scholarship, with more than 70% of recipients identifying as Black, Latino or Native American. Of the 400 high school seniors, 50% identified as a woman or nonbinary, per an Amazon news release.

Recipients were selected based on their academic achievements, leadership skills, involvement in school activities and community work, future goals, work experience and financial needs, the release added.

In total, Amazon awarded $16 million in college tuition scholarships to its 400 recipients.