Jim Hill High senior Jahliyah Readus has been awarded nearly $2 million in academic scholarships. She has also been accepted to and received scholarships from nearly two dozen schools.

“So far, from 22 schools, I have $1.7 million in scholarships,” Readus said. Her top schools are all Historically Black Colleges and Universities. “Xavier, Jackson State, Alcorn, Tougaloo, and Fisk are my top choices.”

Readus is currently enrolled in the Jackson Public Schools – Tougaloo Early College High School. Her home school is Jim Hill. However, she attends classes at Tougaloo College. Her Tougaloo experience is one of the reasons she is choosing an HBCU. “For the past four years, being at an HBCU in high school has shown me this is the type of environment I need to be in. This is what I feel will help me grow and succeed in life,” Readus said. “Having students attend high school on a college campus does a tremendous job of building their confidence and stamina for completing college assignments,” said Chinelo Evans, JPS-Tougaloo Early College High School principal.

“You cannot wait until you become a senior,” said Jim Hill Academic Advisor Frank Branch. “You have to start building that foundation as early as elementary school to achieve such success as Ms. Readus.”

Readus will graduate high school with her associate’s degree. Her hundreds of hours of community service along with being a good scholar were keys to securing her scholarship offers. There are still schools Readus hasn’t heard from yet, and she expects more acceptance letters and scholarship money to come.