RALEIGH — An Asheboro student has been named a finalist for N.C. State’s top merit scholarship. Kaitlyn Ann Gainey, a senior at Southwestern Randolph High School, has been named a finalist for the Park Scholarship. The Park Scholarships program announced that 112 finalists were named from 2,260 applicants from across the United States.
Gainey, who Randolph Record’s Athlete of the Week in October, is the daughter of Stephen and Kelly Gainey of Asheboro. She is currently student body president at SWR and was named homecoming queen in 2021.
Gainey is her school’s Beta Club chapter president and a member of the SkillsUSA four–man building team. She also is the Randolph County School System’s CTE Presidential Scholar, a Randolph County Sports Council “Unsung Hero” Award recipient, and a former member of the Student LIFT (Leadership Information For Tomorrow) program where she completed a self–organized community service project called “Books for Ramseur.” Gainey plans to major in civil engineering.
Started in 1996, the Park Scholarship selects students based on outstanding accomplishments and potential in scholarship, leadership, service, and character. The scholarship is named for the late Roy H. Park, a 1931 NC State alumnus who created the charitable Park Foundation, dedicated to education, media, and the environment. Approximately 40 scholarships will be awarded this year to outstanding high school seniors for undergraduate study in any discipline at NC State.
