Jai'len Josey, a 15-year-old student at Tri Cities High School in Fulton County, was named best actress at the National High School Musical Theater Awards on Monday night in New York.
The prize for the rising 11th-grader’s victory: a check for $10,000 to further her education and a full scholarship to Carnegie Mellon University’s six-week, pre-college drama program. Josey also will be eligible for a four-year scholarship to attend the NYU Tisch School of the Arts’ New Studio on Broadway (contingent upon acceptance into the program).
Josey’s honor, bestowed during a ceremony at Broadway‘s Minskoff Theatre, follows her April best actress win at the 2014 Shuler Hensley Awards (also known as the Georgia High School Musical Theater Awards) at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. That victory catapulted her into the national competition.
To get to New York, Josey raised $3,405 from 39 backers on gofundme.com.
Among the inspirational quotes on her recently launched website is this one from the late Nelson Mandela: "It always seems impossible until it's done."
Fellow Tri Cities student Rubin Barksdale won the Hensley Award for best actor, but in the national competition (also known as the Jimmy Awards), it was Chicagoan Jonah Rawitz who snared the best actor statue.
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