CARPENTERSVILLE – A Jacobs High School graduate was one of five students in the state to be selected to receive a $2,500 cash grant through the Back 2 School Illinois 2016 scholarship program.
Kailash Panchapakesan, of Carpentersville, was selected as a recipient because of achievements both in and out of the classroom, according to a release from Back 2 School, a nonprofit that seeks to provide educational opportunities to Illinois students.
He is a member of the National Honor Society and fell in the top 1 percent of his class, based on academic achievement. Panchapakesan also was an active member of the varsity tennis team and founded the Play for Life campaign with the Sudden Cardiac Death Awareness Research Foundation, helping to raise awareness about cardiac issues and the importance of a healthy lifestyle, the release said.
The other four recipients are Emi Kanda of Skokie, Zoe Kaplan of Chicago, Devin Montgomery of Chicago, and Yueting (Lucy) Wang of Naperville.
Panchapakesan will be awarded his scholarship Thursday during an annual fundraiser dinner at Galleria Marchetti, 825 W. Erie St., Chicago.
Tickets, which are priced at $175, still are available at B2SI.org. A table of eight is priced at $1,400. All proceeds from the dinner will go to Back 2 School Illinois and will be used for school kits for students of low-income households. Some proceeds also will go toward funding more scholarships.
