Photo: FPL
Eight students from Miami to Palm Beach are headed to college with some help from Florida Power & Light and its parent company NextEra Energy.
The high school graduates were each surprised on Saturday with $20,000 scholarships to continue their education in STEM careers.
"One of the students was dual-enrolled at Seminole Ridge (High School) and at Palm Beach State College and graduated this year not only with her high school diploma, but also here Associates in Science."
FPL's Whitney Cunningham Walker says those students took part in a program aimed to spark interest in minority kids to get into STEM careers.
"This is actually our third year awarding these scholarships for students who have participated in a program called the Southeastern Consortium for Minorities in Engineering."
The students came from four schools in Palm Beach County, as well as two in Broward and one in Miami-Dade.
They showed up at FPL's Manatee Lagoon in West Palm Beach, but didn't know they were going to be awarded with the scholarships. After the surprise, the students and their families enjoyed lunch.