HARRISBURG, Pa., May 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Comcast Foundation, founded in 1999 to provide charitable support to its local communities and to empower and enrich lives, is awarding 179 Pennsylvania high school seniors scholarships through its annual Leaders and Achievers(®) Scholarship Program. The program, one of the Comcast Foundation's signature community investment initiatives, recognizes students' leadership skills, academic achievement and commitment to community service.

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Comcast, joined by Pennsylvania Lt. Governor Jim Cawley and other government officials, recognized the students at a special event held Tuesday at the State Museum of Pennsylvania. 178 of the 2013 Pennsylvania Leaders and Achievers recipients received $1,000 scholarships. Cristal Liriano of I-LEAD Charter School in Reading, Pa., was awarded a $10,000 Comcast Founders Scholarship - instituted in honor of Ralph J. Roberts, Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Comcast Corporation - for a total of $188,000 awarded this year to Pennsylvania high school seniors. After a prize drawing, 10 students were also given netbooks to use at college.

"Governor Tom Corbett joins me in congratulating these gifted students for their outstanding achievements," said Lt. Governor Jim Cawley. "We also commend the Comcast Foundation for its ongoing charitable support of programs like this scholarship."

"Comcast recognizes the importance of fostering leadership and excellence in the next generation," said Jim Samaha, regional senior vice president for Comcast. "These students are role models in their communities and at their schools. We commend them for their exceptional achievements, and wish them the very best in their future endeavors."

The Comcast Leaders and Achievers® Scholarship Program provides one-time $1000 scholarships to students who strive to achieve their potential, who are catalysts for positive change in their communities, who are involved in their schools, and who serve as models for their fellow students. The philosophy behind the program is to give young people every opportunity to be prepared for the future, to engage youth in their communities, and to demonstrate the importance of civic involvement, and the value placed on civic involvement by the business community.

Since the program's inception, more than $17.7 million in scholarship money has been presented to more than 17,000 scholarship winners nationwide.

2013 Comcast Leaders and Achievers® Scholarship Winners from Pennsylvania:
SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS (by County where the high school is located)

Adams
Kirsten Ambrose of Littlestown Senior High School
Corby Myers of New Oxford Senior High School
Matthew Noel of Delone Catholic High School
Xenia Yelovich of Fairfield Area High School

Allegheny
Ashley Aiello of Seton-Lasalle High School
Austin Airhart of Thomas Jefferson High School
Joseph Bandi of West Allegheny Senior High School
Rachel Betzner of Bishop Canevin Catholic High School
Emily Breen of Chartiers Valley High School
Brandon Briscoe of Pittsburgh CAPA 6-12
Susannah Byrd of Northgate High School
Jordan Campeau of Plum Senior High School
Bridget Coologhan of South Park High School
Marina Giannirakis of Montour High School
Katherine Girdhar of Oakland Catholic High School
Gary Hancock of City Charter High School
Keza Harewood of Woodland Hills High School
Shannon Holley of South Fayette High School
Lindsey Jeffress of Cornell Senior High School
Denashia Jones of Westinghouse High School
Steven Kohane of Hillel Academy Pittsburgh
Andrew Maust of Cheswick Christian Academy
Ashley McMillen of Deer Lakes High School
Jamie Ranalli of Keystone Oaks High School
Gabrielle Smith of Cherrington Home School
Jordan Terry of Penn Hills High School
Aaron White of Northside Urban Pathways School
Jared Wink of North Hills High School

Armstrong
Beverley Kozuch of West Shamokin High School

Beaver
Jacob DeWeese of Freedom Area High School
Brae Geary of Hopewell High School
Jacob Pearson of Western Beaver High School
Brooke Sabella of New Brighton High School
Nicole Stone of Beaver Falls High School

Bedford
Chase Webb of Bedford High School

Berks
Asia Crawford of Reading High School
Morgan George of Hamburg Area High School
Jillian Kravatz of Schuylkill Valley High School
Cristal Liriano of I-LEAD Charter School
Eric Rodrigo of Wilson High School
Zachary Vicario of Muhlenberg High School

Blair
Keturah Weaver of Tyrone Area High School

Bucks
Alisa Behari of Harry S. Truman High School in Levittown
Anthony Formicola of Central Bucks High School in Warrington
Mackenzie Haines of Plumstead Christian High School in Plumsteadville
Sarah Madden of Villa Joseph Marie High School in Holland
Melanie Matyi of Neshaminy High School in Langhorne
Adam Sokol of Pennsbury High School in Fairless Hills
Collin Takita of Holy Ghost Preparatory School in Bensalem

Butler
Jennifer Matjasko of Freeport Area High School

Centre
Audrey Kreiser of State College Area High School

Chester
Henok Abraham of Coatesville Area Senior High in Coatesville
Hortencia Correa of Kennett High School in Kennett Square
Bridget Cummiskey of Oxford Area High School
Brett Lloyd of Octorara High School
William Slotznick of West Chester Bayard Rustin High School in West Chester

Clarion
Brooke Mann of Redbank High School

Clearfield
Jacob Ponist of Moshannon Valley High School

Clinton
Daniel Flack of Bucktail High School

Cumberland
Emily Allen of Cedar Cliff High School
Chase Angle of Shippensburg Senior High School
John Keeports of Bible Baptist School
Evie Milburn of Cumberland Valley High School
Mark Moore of Trinity High School
Noel Potter of Harrisburg Academy
Joshua Ringquist of Mechanicsburg Area High School
Madeleine Silva of Camp Hill High School

Dauphin
Amber Coppula of Halifax Area High School
Hayley Daub of Millersburg Area High School
Nicholas Devine of Bishop McDevitt High School
Benton Felty of Central Dauphin High School
Linda Guo of Upper Dauphin High School
Heather Lorenz of Central Dauphin High School
Janae Yellock of Steelton-Highspire High School

Delaware
Rachel Adams of Chichester High School in Boothwyn
Sneha Jose of Springfield High School in Springfield
Ziyu Xian of Academy Park High School in Sharon Hill

Franklin
Megan Dougherty of Fannett-Metal Senior High School
Brittany Hoffman of Waynesboro Senior High School
Benjamin Reinert of Shalom Christian Academy

Fulton
David Welsh of McConnellsburg High School

Greene
Jessica Black of West Greene High School

Huntingdon
Tiffany Baker of Huntingdon Area High School
Makayla Hawbaker of South Huntingdon High School

Indiana
Nichole Johnson of Saltsburg High School
Jennifer Knezovich of Penns-Manor Area High School
Sarah Peles of Purchase Line High School
Emily Stiles of Blairsville High School

Jefferson
Austin Sabatucci of Punxsutawney High School

Lackawanna
Kendra Croker of Scranton Preparatory High School
Abigail Mancus of West Scranton High School

Lancaster
Lucas Carney of Pequea High School
Mairym Cruz-Bernard of Columbia High School
Nga Do of Garden Spot High School
Tyler McCardell of Solanco High School
Abigail Weaver of Manheim Central High School

Lawrence
Sara Bracken of New Castle High School
Katelyn Burrelli of Neshannock High School

Lebanon
Justin Allison of Northern Lebanon High School

Luzerne
Deanna Dinelli of Greater Nanicoke Area High School
Tiffany Smith of Pittston Area High School
Marcus Wagner of Dallas High School

Lycoming
Morgan Chambers of Loyalsock High School
Dominic Galanti of Montgomery High School
Rose Morris of Montoursville High School
Joseph Pierce of St. John Neumann Regional Academy
Aleesha Smith of Williamsport Area High School

Montgomery
Zacorra Atkins of Owen J. Roberts High School in Pottstown
Iris Chan of Upper Dublin High School in Fort Washington
Danielle Finley of Philadelphia-Montgomery Christian Academy in Erdenheim
Rachel Heller of Mount St. Joseph Academy in Flourtown
David Lakata of Lower Moreland Twp. High School in Huntingdon Valley
Kayla Lane of Merion Mercy Academy in Merion Station
Claire Lippay of Jenkintown High School in Jenkintown
Daniel Maloney of Lansdale Catholic High School
Phoebe Mikalonis of Spring Ford High School in Royersford
Madison Monaco of Notre Dame Academy in Villanova
Samantha Stalford of Upper Perkiomen High School in Pennsburg
Ian Yanusko of Pottsgrove Senior High School in Pottstown

Perry
Farren Dell of West Perry High School
Tyler Legge of Newport High School

Philadelphia
Oyinkansola Adekitan of Germantown High School
Heather Amos of Parkway Center High School
Imani Briscoe of West Philadelphia Catholic School
Ian Caplan of Chestnut Hill Academy
Miah Collins of Simon Gratz High School
Unique Cooper of Motivation High School
Linda Croskey of Carver High School of Engineering & Science
Dharielle Dorsett of Delaware Valley Charter High School
Selena Duvivier of Community Academy of Philadelphia Charter School
Brittany Hodges of Masterman High School
Kristina Hunter of Hallahan High School
Kyshon Johnson of Parkway Northwest High School
Natalie Jusino of Nueva Esperenza Academy Charter School
Charisse Laws of Philadelphia Military Academy at Leeds
Taisha Martinez of Kensington Creative and Performing Arts High School
Resheen McCloud of Roberts Vaux High School
Anton McFadden of Kensington Business and Finance High School
Ryan McKinney of Imhotep Institute Charter High
Simone Mokum of Freire Charter High School
Kayode Oduwiaye of High School for the Future
LizMarie Perez of Mariana Bracetti Academy Charter School
James Phillips of Bok Technical High School
Yalisa Rodriguez of Kensington Culinary Arts High School
Sarahn Sankofa of Central High Schoool
Yanique Seac of Parkway-West High School
Jelisa Smith of Franklin High School
Ayana Swanson of Bodine International Affairs High School
Marquell Tate of Murrell Dobbins CTE High School
Khalil Thompson of Mastery Charter School
Jamie Tomkowicz of Franklin Towne Charter High School
Brian Vazquez of International Christian High School
Christian Warrick of University City High School
Shawn Webster of Lankenau High School
Asha Wescott of Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts
Rosalind Williams of Mastbaum Technical High School
Kayleah Woods of City Center Academy
Michaiah Young of Mercy Vocational High School
Yingzhu Zhang of St. Hubert High School

Schuylkill
Brianna Amos of Pottsville High School
Jacqueline Boran of Blue Mountain High School
Rachel Eckert of Nativity B.V.M. High School
KateLynn LaScala of Schuylkill Haven Area High School
Brett Polinsky of Minersville Area High School

Somerset
Morgan Lyons of North Star High School
Ashley May of Somerset High School
Keith Russel of Turkeyfoot High School

Washington
Jacob Brown of Canon-McMillan High School
Shane Coffield of Trinity High School
Nathaniel Heim of Washington High School
Robert Higgins of Ringgold High School
Mikayla Lunardini of McGuffey High School

Westmoreland
Corinne Dally of Norwin High School
Sara Layne of Monessen High School
Jaydyn Morrison of Greensburg-Salem High School

York
Scott Hess of Susquehannock High School
Marisa Hudson of William Penn High School
Alexander Iula of Dallastown Area High School
Sarah Williamson of Northeastern High School

About the Comcast Foundation
The Comcast Foundation was founded by Comcast Corporation in June 1999 to provide charitable support to qualified non-profit organizations. The Foundation primarily invests in programs intended to have a positive, sustainable impact on their communities. The Foundation has three community investment priorities -- promoting community service, expanding digital literacy, and building tomorrow's leaders. Since its inception, the Comcast Foundation has donated over $116 million to organizations in the communities nationwide that Comcast serves. More information about the Foundation and its programs is available at www.comcast.com/community.

About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) is a global media and technology company with two primary businesses, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable is the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone provider to residential customers under the XFINITY brand and also provides these services to businesses. NBCUniversal operates 30 news and entertainment cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations, television station groups, Universal Pictures and Universal Parks and Resorts. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.

SOURCE Comcast Corporation