Local student wins Coca-Cola scholarship

Katelyn McInerney, a graduate of Mountain Brook High School, has been recognized as one of the country’s most outstanding high school leaders by the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation and has been awarded a $20,000 college scholarship.

As a member of the 31st class of Coca-Cola Scholars, McInerney exemplifies superior leadership, service, academics and being a change agent, positively affecting others in her community. McInerney is one of 150 selected from 95,715 initial applicants from across the country to receive this scholarship. 

She was founder and president of her school’s Sign Language Club and a Girl Scout Gold Award recipient. McInerney also founded and served as president of Special Siblings, a 501(c)3 nonprofit support group for children who have siblings with special needs.

She was selected as a Bronfman Fellow and traveled with 25 other North American teens to Israel. McInerney also had the opportunity to work in the learning and memory neuroscience lab at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. While there, she worked with a Ph.D. candidate on her study of the genetics of epilepsy. 

McInerney plans to attend North Carolina State University on the prestigious Park Scholarship and has recently been accepted into the Ben Franklin Scholars Program, where she intends to double major in chemical engineering and Spanish.

 With the addition of the 2019 class, the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation has provided more than 6,150 Coke Scholars nationwide with over $69 million in scholarships over the course of 31 years.

In addition to receiving college scholarships, Coca-Cola Scholars came to Atlanta April 4-7 for Scholars Weekend, where they served as the guests of honor at a celebratory banquet, participated in a leadership development curriculum and were welcomed into a vibrant and growing family of alumni that have become a powerful force for positive change in the world.

Submitted by Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation.