Thurgood Marshall Academy senior Dayna Hudson received the Stephen J. Trachtenberg Scholarship to the George Washington University on Friday, April 3. The scholarship was presented at the Duke Ellington School for the Arts. Dayna did not know about the award until arriving at the ceremony where she was greeted by her mom. Dayna was ecstatic about her accomplishments and full of tears!

The scholarship program, now in its 20^th year, selects DC seniors students based on class rank, GPA, SAT scores, course of study, teacher recommendations, leadership qualities, community service, and other extracurricular activities and achievements. The scholarship, worth more than $200,000 each, is renewed annually provided the recipients meet the university’s academic progress standards.

Dayna is the first—and only— charter school student to receive the scholarship, which has not been open to charter students in the past. This year, nine students city-wide received the award.

You can learn more about the award through this video by NBC or in this article in USA Today.