San Fernando Valley residents Paul Bingaman Jr. and Haesung Jee are among the Southland area students named a Milken Scholar for 2019,
The $10,000 scholarships — which include lifetime mentoring are available to college-bound high school seniors in Los Angeles county, New York City and Washington, D.C.. Winners are selected based on their academic performance, community service, leadership and their ability to persevere in the face of personal challenges.
Jee graduated from Cleveland High School in Reseda and was the valedictorian of the 2019 class. Among her accomplishments is founding “Code Buddy,” a nonprofit that brings high schoolers to local elementary schools to teach computer programming. Haesung serves as the group’s director of operations and has brought coding classes to 11 schools and more than 400 students in greater Los Angeles, with expansion plans in the works.
Code Buddy won a $1,000 grant from the Kevin Na Foundation and used the funds to host a coding contest.
Jee is also a National AP Scholar and a finalist for the National Merit and Gates Scholarships. She earned top honors in the Code Quest and American Computer Science League All-Star Competitions and received the Congressional Award Gold Medal.
She will attend Harvard University this fall to study the history of science, and plans a career in medicine or public health.
Bingaman graduated from The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks. As co-captain of the varsity basketball team at The Buckley School in Los Angeles as a sophomore he started biweekly check-ins with his teammates to make sure they were meeting their academic commitments, reinforcing a culture of excellence both on the court and in the classroom. Bigaman also captained the team as a senior and won multiple awards for his playing, including Rookie of the Year, All-Liberty League Team, and honors from the California Interscholastic Federation.
He is an AP Scholar with Distinction and a member of the National Honor Society. He won a Dr. Isabelle Buckley Award, presented to his high school’s most well-rounded student at graduation. Paul worked as a counselor at Buckley’s basketball camp and tutored peers in math, history and science.
Bingaman will also attend Harvard this fall. He will study political science at Harvard and plans a career in law.