North Minneapolis students win prestigious academic scholarship

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - North Community High School in Minneapolis is known for its great athletes, but now campus leaders hope recognition from a highly selective national scholarship can help their school become just as well known for its academics.

Seniors Ahmed-Motty Mohamed and Devin Cain entered the elite company this week.

"I was like how did I just win the Bill Gates scholarship? I was very, very happy," Mohamed told FOX 9.

"It was a very surreal moment," Cain told FOX 9.

The Gates Scholarship is a highly selective full-ride scholarship given to outstanding, minority high school seniors from low-income households.

"Fifty-three thousand high school seniors across the country applied," said Minneapolis North principal Mauri Friestleben.

Less than 1,000 students were interviewed, and ultimately, these two were among just 300 recognized for their leadership and drive in the classroom.

Cain and Mohamed are likely to study computer science, and there’s a good chance you could find them both on campus at the University of Minnesota.

Minneapolis North administrators plan to recognize them at an end-of-year senior award ceremony before Cain and Mohamed are flown to Arizona to meet the rest of the scholarship winners.