CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (May 12, 2008)--Since its inception the goal of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation has been to attract to the Grounds of the University the most promising students in the world, students who possess exceptional talent in leadership and scholarship and who have the potential to make significant contributions to the University as students and to the world at large as alumni.  In Hannah Miller Barefoot, the Foundation has found an individual with such potential.

An accomplished student who has excelled in all areas of the North Carolina School of Arts’ curriculum, Hannah is a high school senior in the Visual Arts Program of the School of Design and Production. She is a member of the National Honor Society and an AP Scholar with Distinction.  Following a very comprehensive and competitive admissions process, she was accepted by the North Carolina School of the Arts with a strong academic curriculum as well as intensive art classes taught by professional artists.  She has been awarded the Scholastic Art Award Gold Key which is the highest award given in the national high school art competition.

            As a German Club member at R. J. Reynolds High School, Hannah participated in the German American Partnership Program by hosting a visiting German student, followed by her visit to Germany where she stayed with a host family.  Serving as vice president of the Global Concern Club at Reynolds, she organized various crisis awareness meetings and fundraising events to benefit overseas international communities.  Other volunteer and community service projects were accomplished through the Reynolds High School Girls Club.  She has recently started a fundraising project in the Winston-Salem Forsyth County School District selling donated t-shirts designed by the North Carolina School of the Arts to benefit art programs in low-income elementary schools.

Hannah had also played on both the varsity soccer and volleyball teams at Reynolds High School, serving as captain of and receiving the Coach’s Award for volleyball.  Her club soccer team won its third state championship this past year.  Environmentally conscientious, she attends the Green River Preserve environmental sciences summer camp every year and has participated in a three-week low-impact backpacking trip and a three-week primitive coastal kayaking trip, both of which teach survival and leadership skills.