Pop prize

Paula Pisani

He may not have won the big bucks, but Ocean View High School senior Josh

Cable is still smiling over his $4,000 scholarship from the Coca-Cola

Scholars Foundation.

Josh was one of 200 regional scholars to win the prize.

Late last month, he traveled to Atlanta, the headquarters for the

Coca-Cola Co., to compete for scholarships worth up to $20,000.

Josh, one of 252 high school seniors to compete nationwide, was chosen

from an initial applicant pool of more than 117,000 high school seniors

representing more than 16,500 high schools in the nation.

Josh was selected based on his academic excellence, and school and

community involvement.

The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, a joint effort of Coca-Cola Bottlers

and the Coca-Cola Co., recognizes outstanding high school seniors who

have demonstrated academic and civic excellence in their schools and

communities, said Ron Coleman, spokesman for the Coca-Cola Scholars

Foundation.”It was a lot of fun,” Josh commented after returning home to

Huntington Beach. “I had the opportunity to meet many of the students.

Basically, everyone there was amazing. It was a really gratifying

experience.”

Students were judged on interviews and essays. For fun, they heard from

top officials from Coca-Cola Enterprises and were given as much Coke as

the students could drink, Josh said.

Josh is president of the school’s Associated Student Body and has

participated in the Model United Nations group, is chair of the

Huntington Beach Youth Board, president of the Key Club and active in the

International Baccalaureate program.

With so many activities taking up his time, Josh doesn’t have time for

much else, even dinner.

“Sometimes I eat on the run. Sometimes I come home at 9 o’clock and eat

then,” he said. “For first time in about a year, I’m eating breakfast.”

Jim Burch, the school’s science teacher and coordinator of the

International Baccalaureate program, said the program is based in Geneva,

Switzerland. To participate, students take special classes, perform 150

hours of school and community service, write research papers and take

international tests. With these requirements completed, students receive

a diploma from Geneva.Burch has taught Josh for two years and describes

the student as “very well-rounded.”

“He’s very involved,” Burch said. “He’s taken the most rigorous academic

classes we offer. He’s very focused on being successful and getting into

a good school.”

That focus has apparently paid off: Josh will begin taking classes at

Harvard University in the fall, where he will study economics and

government -- with the help of Coca-Cola.