M'Bouilee Sidibe will head to the University of Washington on a full ride this fall.

The Rainier Beach High School senior is one of roughly 300 students nationwide selected as a Gates Scholar, a scholarship covering tuition, housing, books, and transportation that can total $160,000 over four years. Fewer than 1% of applicants are chosen.

Sidibe earned her associate degree from Seattle Central College while still in high school, competed in track and basketball, and advocated for food justice through the Rainier Beach Action Coalition, the Black-led nonprofit that runs Seattle's largest urban farm and a free weekly farmers market on Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. She plans to study public health at UW.

She wasn't alone. Seattle Public Schools announced on June 3 that Rainier Beach seniors collectively pulled in scholarships across at least seven programs. Kathy Ngo and Barin Ahmadi each earned four awards. Ngo received the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship, the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship (up to $22,500 for STEM and health care majors), the Costco Diversity Scholarship, and the Stanley Ann Dunham Scholarship.

Ahmadi also earned four: the MLK, WSOS, Stanley Ann Dunham, and Seattle Schools Scholarship Fund awards.

Other recipients named in the district's announcement: Aida Sarr (Leadership 1000 and MLK scholarships), Miranda Santiago, Nejema Mohamed, and Zoe Pineda (WSOS), Nabay Zerazion (Costco Diversity), Jenna Niko, Jaren Regala, Nadhj Mychel Oyson, Corey Morrow (Seattle Schools Scholarship Fund), Lisette Malila (Stanley Ann Dunham), and Jay Rangel, who completed Phase One of the Washington Aerospace Scholars program.

The awards come from a school where 80% of students are economically disadvantaged and 95% are students of color, according to U.S. News & World Report. Rainier Beach leads Seattle Public Schools in dual-credit enrollment among juniors and seniors at 84.5%, per the school's improvement plan. In 2011, the school nearly closed with 366 students and a 54% graduation rate. It now enrolls more than 800 with a graduation rate of 90%.

The national Gates Scholarship cohort was announced April 20; the district highlighted Sidibe's selection alongside her classmates' wins on June 3. Financial awards will be disbursed in fall 2026.