Watch: Ohio student surprised at school with scholarship award

CHESTERLAND, Ohio (WJW) — A local high school student has hit the education lottery – free college tuition.

NCAA Division III Thiel College awarded West Geauga High School student Alexis Brown with a full-tuition scholarship – worth $134,480 – after she competed in a scholarship day at Thiel, pronounced teal like the color.

And the cherry on top is that she didn’t know she won until the announcement was made live at her school in front of her bandmates.

Alexis and four other students are receiving a full ride to the liberal arts college after winning an interview-style competition conducted by professors on Thiel’s faculty. The judges considered her accomplishments in and out of the classroom in high school.

The announcement was made on Monday afternoon by Thiel College admission counselor Sam Faber and her family in the school’s band room.

“Just by talking to her, she’s a stellar student,” Faber said. “She’s very mature, very intelligent, so it doesn’t surprise me at all that she’s one of our winners.”

The private college in Greenville, Pennsylvania is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is one of the smallest colleges or universities in the region, with about 800 students enrolled.

The scholarship is completely academically-based.