The Union Plus Scholarship Program announced its 2019 winners totaling $170,000 in scholarships. The list of 108 students includes members of two IAM families who were recognized for their academic achievement and exhibition of union values.
Kaitlyn Neal of Las Cruces, NM, daughter of IAM Local 2515 member Ronald Neal, has been awarded a $1,000 scholarship. Sarah Soliman of Newcastle, OK, daughter of IAM Local 1886 member Gamal Soliman, has been awarded a $1,000 scholarship.
Neal is a 2019 graduate of Las Cruces High School in New Mexico. She plans to major in marketing at South Plains College in Levelland, TX. She works as a marketer and merchandiser for her family ranch and hopes to build a career in marketing or communications for an agriculture-based company or organization. She has served as a chapter president of Future Farmers of America and has won numerous awards for livestock showing.
Soliman is a biology and microbiology major on a pre-med track as a member of the Honors College at Oklahoma State University and expects to graduate in 2020. She was the 2016 valedictorian at Newcastle High School in Oklahoma. Soliman has volunteered as an emergency room receptionist at the Stillwater Medical Center throughout college. Her passion for science and medicine stems from family members’ health trials and the loss of loved ones at a young age.
Founded by the AFL-CIO and now in its 28th year, the Union Plus Scholarship Program awards scholarships based on outstanding academic achievement, personal character, financial need and commitment to the values of organized labor. The program is offered through the Union Plus Education Foundation and has awarded more than $4.5 million in educational funding to more than 3,000 union members, spouses and dependent children since 1991.