3 Austin-East seniors earn surprise admission, scholarship from University of Tennessee

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Three Austin-East Magnet High seniors received a surprise from the University of Tennessee Wednesday; admission offers and scholarships. The university made the announcement Wednesday morning, with the surprise scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

Since the three students, Darius Jackson, Zakeyous Houston and Charlie Smith, attend Austin-East, a flagship UT school, they will also receive the Flagship Scholarship. That scholarship, along with the state’s HOPE Scholarship, will cover tuition and fees for up to eight semesters.

Jackson, admitted to the university’s exploratory track, participated in UT’s Project Excellence and completed an AVID entrepreneurship class. Jackson said they’re passionate about art.

Houston was also admitted to the exploratory track with interests in business and finance. The student managed to balance school, football and a part-time job while taking honors and AP classes. Houston also served as an Austin-East student ambassador.

Smith, described as an advocate for peers, is set to be admitted to the agricultural sciences and natural resources exploratory track. Smith was also active at Austin-East, working with Project Excellence, the robotics club, ROTC, Project GRAD Summer Institute and the NASA Student Spaceflight Experiments program.

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