MT. VERNON, IL — Daniel Song, a Senior at Mt. Vernon Township High School, is the 2020 winner of the $10,000 per year Aspire Scholarship. It is conditioned on being accepted at a top 40 rated college or university. Song was accepted both Cornell University in Ithaca, NY and Emory University in Atlanta. He was also accepted at the University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC) in the combined 6-year undergraduate and medical school program, where he plans to study.

Bill Glassman is one of the 12 committee members with long-time ties to Mt. Vernon. He says the applicants this year were very impressive.

The Aspire Scholarship is organized by MVTHS Assistant Principal Julie Littlefair.

Song is the first member of his family to go to college. Besides top grades and test scores, Song was a volunteer at Crossroads Community Hospital, a youth mentor at Youth Court, a senior representative at Cedarhurst Youth Ambassador, and a group leader at Biomed Buddies, a program for fourth year biomedical students at the high school. He’s also Captain of the tennis team and gave free tennis lessons to underprivileged students.

Previous winners of the award are Connor Pigg, 2017, William Walton, 2018, and Priyanka Kaushal, 2019. Pigg and Walton are at the University of Illinois in Champaign Urbana. Kaushal is in the 6-year medical program at University of Illinois Circle Campus in Chicago.

The Aspire Selection Committee is composed of 12 people with long-time ties to Mt. Vernon and the High School. The funding for the scholarships comes from private sources. There are no tax dollars used for these scholarships. The Aspire Committee wants to reward exceptional students with financial support at a top-rated university. It wants to have upcoming students aspire to win this financial assistance. “The quality of students applying for this scholarship is really amazing. It is a real testament for preparing our students for the next level of higher education.” said Littlefair.