Exchanges Rewards High-Achieving Military Students with $4,000 in Prizes
Photo courtesy of 82nd Airbone Division Public Affairs – Military student Nora Conlin, 11, receives a $1,500 Army & Air Force Exchange Service gift card July 17 at the Fort Bragg Exchange. Nora won second place in the Exchange’s You Made the Grade sweepstakes. Also pictured, Fort Bragg Command Sgt. Maj. William D. Lohmeyer and Fort Bragg Exchange Main Store Manager Dale Killip.
Getting good grades has literally paid off for three hardworking military students who won a combined $4,000 in prizes in the Exchange’s You Made the Grade sweepstakes.
Bella Zavala, 9, of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, was presented with the grand prize—a $2,000 Exchange gift card—Aug. 1 at the Fort Belvoir Exchange.
“I really worked hard to keep my grades up, because I really want to make my mom and dad proud,” said Bella, who will begin the fourth grade this upcoming quarter.
Second-place winner Nora Conlin, 11, of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, won a $1,500 Exchange gift card, while Daisuke Rivas, 9, of Fort Meade, Maryland, placed third, receiving a $500 Exchange gift card. The three winners were selected from more than 500 high-achieving military students who qualified for the sweepstakes by maintaining a B average or better in spring 2020.
Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Luis Reyes, Exchange senior enlisted advisor, said the Exchange is honored to recognize the achievements of military students, who often experience frequent moves, deployments and other stressors not faced by their civilian classmates.
“It takes a lot of hard work to maintain good grades while moving from school to school every couple of years,” Reyes said. “The resiliency of these students shows all military kids that they can achieve great things despite the unique challenges that go along with a military upbringing.”
Through the Exchange’s You Made the Grade program, first- through 12th-graders, including homeschooled students, with a B average or higher are eligible to receive a $5 Exchange gift card each grading period during the 2019-20 school year.
“The You Made the Grade program is a good motivator for our kids,” said Lt. Col. James Zavala, Bella’s father. “My wife and I push them to do well and praise them every day, but it’s good for them to get some kind of outside acknowledgement for their grades. It really reinforces what we’re doing.”
Students who make the grade qualify to enter a worldwide sweepstakes to win a $2,000, $1,500 or $500 Exchange gift card. Drawings are held in December and June.
Click here to check out photos of all this year’s You Made the Grade winners.
