The Benwood Foundation, in partnership with Public Education Foundation, has announced 18 recipients of its inaugural “Bridging the Gap” scholarships totaling $300,000 over the next four years.
In a continued commemoration of its 75th anniversary, Benwood established a scholarship program to support Hamilton County high school seniors through their college journey by annually awarding last dollar scholarships to help cover unmet college costs.
The funds will be used to provide summer internships and other travel and enrichment experiences to ensure the “Benwood Scholars” -- especially those from the most challenging backgrounds -- succeed at every stage of their collegiate journey. Community leaders and Benwood Foundation trustees will serve as mentors to the Scholars and follow them through their collegiate journey.
Benwood Foundation President Sarah Morgan said the best way to honor the [Foundation’s] past is to invest in the future of some really talented students who have done a yeoman’s job of finding resources to enable them to attend college.
“We know that it’s expensive to go to college and sometimes they don’t anticipate all the expenses they’re going to see,” said Ms. Morgan. “We’re glad to provide a little bit of resources to meet that.”
“There are so many smart and deserving students in Hamilton County Schools,” said Stacy Lightfoot, PEF vice president of College and Career Success. “We can’t wait to see how far these Scholars go in their educational and career pursuits.”
Scholarship awards vary by recipient and are based on the unmet costs for room & board, tuition, fees, books or transportation. The resources will “bridge the gap” of costs that have not been covered after institutional, state and federal financial aid and other outside scholarships are applied. The Benwood Foundation scholarship is a need-based scholarship and is renewable for up to four years.
The following 2020 high school graduates were selected:
- Brainerd: Ashanti Bell, Paul Bell;
- East Ridge: Aleah Davis, Chaniya Mines, Gekayla Shumake;
- Hixson: Autumn Coonrod, Melissa Fienga, Carol-Khanh Hua;
- Howard: Jeremiah Fuget, Adrian McGhee, Lenin Ramos, Imani Rowe;
- Red Bank: Shannon Ledford, Kendall Stolpmann;
- Tyner: Sharice Delaney, Gabriella Jackson-Olson, Le’Airius Jones, Zora Thomas.
Applicants were required to have a 2.75 GPA or higher, submit two letters of recommendation, demonstrate perseverance and leadership and participate in a virtual interview in order to receive the scholarship.