Luke Meares, a senior at East Clinton High School, was named a Regional Finalist for the 2017 class of the Coca‑Cola Scholars Program.

As one of 250 high school seniors selected nationwide as Regional Finalists, Meares will receive at minimum a $1,000 educational stipend from the Coca‑Cola Scholars Foundation to use at the college of his choice next fall thanks to The Coca‑Cola Company and Coca-Cola bottlers throughout the country.

Students are selected as Regional Finalists based on academic excellence, leadership, and achievement demonstrated in school and community activities.

“I am so thankful for this opportunity from Coca-Cola and to have advanced as far as I did,” said Luke. “I am so excited for college and the wonderful experiences I will get to have at Pomona College, in California. It’s a great honor to have advanced to the final group.”

Luke was among 1,914 semifinalists who were selected from nearly 86,000 initial applicants, and he was one of just 250 students who moved on to the final selection phase, regional interviews. Luke was not selected to be one of the 150 Coca-Cola Scholars, but to be in the top 250 in the nation out of nearly 86,000 applicants and one of only seven Ohio finalists is quite an amazing accomplishment.

Luke plans on attending Pomona College in Claremont, California and double-major in Environmental Analysis and Politics.