FAIRFIELD COUNTY – In 2018 Fairfield Central High School’s Class of 2023 began providing college scholarships to graduating seniors at Fairfield Central High School.
The goal of the scholarship is to select a high school senior who has gone above and beyond academically, plus has been committed to community service during their high school duration.
In the past seven years of giving the scholarship, the 2003 class has collected over $10,000 from class members to give. In that time, 27 graduating seniors have received funds for attending one of the surrounding two or four year colleges or universities.
Scholarship chairman Travis Evans said the class is excited that there has been an increased interest in the scholarship from seniors and the community, estimating that 75 applications have been received since the scholarship’s initiation.
“My college experience was very eye opening and the sole marker of the transition from being an adolescent to an adult,” said Meghan Pearson, a 2018 scholarship awardee who attended the University of South Carolina. “Receiving this scholarship was a great help in regards to funding my education so that I could focus on my studies and academic excellence.”
Kayla Picket, a 2020 awardee, said that the scholarship helped her tremendously as it funded her nursing textbooks while she was a student at the University of South Carolina Upstate.
Evans said that in the past few months, the committee has had a total of 29 Class of 2003 members contribute to the scholarship for a total of $2,600.
The scholarship committee is comprised of six class of 2003 alumni: Demetrius Chatman, Keisha Dyer, Evans, Mycha Irby Darren Jackson, and Tangela Kitchen.
“Special thanks to FCHS Class of 2003 class members and the selected committee members for your donations, the hard work in continuing the scholarship, and the commitment to supporting the community and high school seniors,” he said.