Promising student wins Turner Broadcasting scholarship

June 26, 2008 12:44 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Kate Augusto, Globe Correspondent

The incident early last year in which lit-up devices depicting strange-looking cartoon characters were placed around the city caused consternation and a massive security response. Now it will also help send a promising young Boston public school student to college.

Connie Chan of South Boston, a recent Boston Latin Academy graduate, received a $2,500 scholarship Wednesday night from Mayor Thomas M. Menino to pursue an education and career in communications. Chan was the recipient of the first City of Boston/Turner Broadcasting System Inc. Scholarship.

Jonathan Palumbo, a spokesman for the Boston schools, said the annual scholarship comes out of a partnership with Turner that started after the January 2007 incident where lit-up devices were placed around the city in a promotion for Aqua Teen Hunger Force, a show on the Cartoon Network, which is owned by Turner Broadcasting.

Police treated the signs as potentially dangerous because they were concerned they had been planted by terrorists.

“The mayor was very gracious and suggested that they [Turner] strike up a partnership with Boston public schools so we’ve been working with Turner since,” Palumbo said.

“Connie is a remarkable young woman who is well deserving of this prize,” Menino said in a statement. “She is what this city is all about, and I’m sure she has a very bright future ahead of her.”

Chan’s interest in communications began when she was 7 when her Quincy Elementary School teachers showed her basic website design. She later worked for TechBoston Consulting Group with other Boston students to deliver information technology consulting services to local businesses and nonprofits. Chan will attend Simmons College next year and major in graphic design and media communications.

Palumbo said about 12 students applied for the scholarship by submitting high school transcripts, a personal statement, and letters of recommendation.

The award will assist Chan in achieving her goal of opening her own computer-related business after graduation. “This is my dream,” she wrote in her application. “This is what I love to do every day.”