HOUSTON – KPRC 2 and American Furniture Warehouse are surprising 20 deserving high school seniors with $2,500 scholarships in 2026. All students selected for scholarships have been nominated by their high schools.
Cypress Creek High School senior Marlee Brown is our seventh KPRC 2-American Furniture Warehouse Senior Scholarship winner from the class of 2026. Cypress Creek High School is part of the Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District.
Brown is a student-athlete who serves as vice president of the National English Honor Society. She has played volleyball for all four years of high school and was team captain during her senior year. Brown also founded a men’s volleyball program at her school. She remains active in school activities including Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Student Athlete Leadership Team.
A rare life-threatening illness landed Brown in the hospital for the first few weeks of her senior year. Brown tells KPRC 2, “Death was expected, but I walked out of the ICU (in a wheelchair...). Doctors told me I might miss my first semester, be too weak for my advanced classes, and never play volleyball again. I refused to accept that; defying all the odds, I returned to the court and classroom, playing on senior night and enrolling in college-level courses.”
Brown plans to study biology and take pre-optometry courses in college. She says, “I am currently completing clinicals and practicum hoping to enter the medical field to help others as I was helped.” Congratulations, Marlee!
You can see the scholarship surprise for Marlee Brown in the video player at the top of this article.