Friday, November 13, 2026
Hewlett High School senior Raphael Levi is among more than 1,200 students from across the country who have advanced to the next stage of the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation scholarship competition, an achievement-based scholarship program recognizing high school seniors who demonstrate academic excellence and community service. Levi, 17, was one of more than 113,000 applicants.
The selection process will continue this fall, with 250 Finalists to be announced in January and 150 Coca-Cola Scholars selected in February to receive $20,000 college scholarships.
Levi’s work ethic and interest in business and finance stem from his martial arts background. Last summer, he competed at the Maccabiah Games in Israel — the third-largest sporting event in the world — where he won a silver medal in fighting and bronze medal in forms. As a junior athlete, Levi wrote in email, he was the only international competitor to win a silver medal.
But the son of Warren Levi, owner of Warren Levi Championship Martial Arts, wrote that his growth stems from his role as both a teacher and a student. Teaching self-defense and fitness lessons, Levi wrote, he’s developed skills he would have never developed otherwise: communication skills, emotional intelligence and a sense of leadership.
“I started because of how much karate has given me, from mental fortitude to muscular endurance and explosiveness, but most importantly a place where I built my confidence,” Levi wrote. “I wanted to share that with anyone within reach, especially those in more vulnerable positions.”
As a sophomore, Levi competed in the EuroChallenge, a nationwide competition in which teams choose a country in the European Union and propose solutions to a problem that country faces.
Levi’s team of five, he wrote, chose to investigate climate change in Croatia and adapted environmentally friendly options from Germany and Sweden to combat wildfires and flooding.
“We were the first team in our school’s history to advance to the National Semifinals,” Levi wrote. “Which consisted of 25 teams from across the nation, each the winner of its local region.”
As a junior, Levi completed AP Macroeconomics and AP Microeconomics and finished with a weighted grade average of 106 for both classes. He entered the National Personal Finance Challenge, a team-based competition in which high school students use their business knowledge to answer questions and solve case studies. His team advanced to the state finals and, individually, Levi placed second out of more than 3,200 students.
Levi is proud of his social science research. He wrote a research paper that included a survey of 139 K-12 teachers, examining teachers’ perceptions of A.I. in preparing for their classes. He drew interest, he wrote, from his teachers’ own thoughts on how they might use the technology in preparation for their classes.
He submitted the paper to the Regeneron Science Talent Search and to the American Journal of Student Research, a peer-reviewed academic journal. Levi is also working with PhD mentor Terrence Bissoondial, the science research coordinator at Hewlett High School, to develop a presentation for the school’s board of education “so the district can act on these findings with policies and training that help teachers use AI with confidence.”
“My teachers have given me so much,” Levi wrote. “This is my way of giving something back to them and to my community.”
Educators also spoke about Levi’s academic growth.
Melissa Leder, Levi’s guidance counselor at Hewlett High, said his resumé falls off the page — the EuroChallenge didn’t even make it.
“He’s a positive influence in his classroom discussions and experiences, so I think his peers really gravitate to what he has to say,” Leder said. “He’s very well respected by his peers, by teachers, by myself — I think every teacher would love to have a million of him.”
Beth Wagner, an English teacher who taught Levi in both 10th and 11th grades, echoed Leder’s sentiment. Wagner said Levi was active in class discussions and excelled in AP Seminar, a challenging class at the high school. Levi’s enthusiasm for learning, Wagner said, helped him excel.
“It can be whiplash for sophomores,” she said. “It’s very different from nine honors: It’s very challenging and Levi definitely rose to that challenge.”
During Wagner’s AP Research class, which Levi took as a junior, she invited her husband, Michael Wagner, to work with students on the statistical analysis portion of their research projects. Wagner said her husband, an associate director of e-discovery resources, met individually with students — naturally, Levi volunteered to go first, but the learning experience, Wagner said, intrigued him.
“When Raf’s time was done and another student was coming up, Raf wanted to sit and listen to the conversations,” Wagner said. “He was enjoying the learning that was coming from the conversation.”
This year, Levi was reappointed president of the high school’s student government board, on which he has served for all four years of school. Serving as a student leader at the high school, Levi said, allows him to give back to both the district’s students and the community.
Levi applied early decision to the NYU Stern School of Business, where he will focus on finance and accounting. His long-term goal, he said, is to build a national network of martial arts studios that run programs for neurodivergent children and adults — something he has wanted to do since hearing stories at his father’s martial arts school.
“When people hear business or finance, they typically automatically and intrinsically associate it with money,” Levi said. “For me, I see it as a way to help people.”
