Oconee Co students win REACH scholarships – WGAU

Four Oconee County students — Keyton Epps and Olivia Evans from Malcom Bridge High School and Alfonso Ruiz and Gracie Meeler from Oconee County Middle School — are appointed REACH Fellows, receiving $ 10,000 scholarships for post-secondary education.

On the Oconee County School District website …

Four Oconee County students and their parents participated in individualized signing ceremonies for each student to officially become a REACH Fellow. Students will each receive a $ 10,000 post-secondary scholarship through a public / private partnership between the State of Georgia and the community of Oconee.

“Oconee County Schools are proud to honor our third annual class of REACH Fellows and their tremendous accomplishment of receiving college scholarships in college,” said Superintendent Jason L. Branch. “All four students are particularly deserving of this accomplishment, and I wish them all the best in middle and high school, as well as in their post-secondary experiences. “

The four REACH 2021 fellows in the district are:

Keyton Epps – Malcom Bridge College

Olivia Evans – Malcom Bridge College

Alfonso Ibarro-Ruiz – Oconee County College

Laura Grace “Gracie” Meeler – Oconee County Middle School

The REACH Georgia program is a needs-based scholarship designed to promote academic achievement and expand access to higher education. As part of the program, students signed contracts to maintain a certain grade point average and also to meet with a volunteer mentor and academic coach until they graduate from high school. Parents or guardians have signed contracts to support their child throughout this process. When these scholarship recipients graduate from high school, they will receive a scholarship of up to $ 10,000 – $ 2,500 annually for up to four years – to use at a Georgia college eligible for HOPE in two or four. years. Many colleges match this scholarship and some double the scholarship, providing researchers with additional resources for their college education.

The REACH scholarship program is a public / private partnership with part of the funding at state level, while the rest is provided by local communities. Oconee County Schools are seeking additional business partners for the program. If you are interested, please contact REACH Coordinator Beth Parks at [email protected] or 706.769.5130, ext. 1336.

The sponsor group for this year’s scholarship recipients is:

Ford of Athens

South Bank

State Bank of Oconee

Federal State Fisheries Credit Union

Walton EMC

For more information, REACH Georgia, please visit www.oconeeschools.org/REACH.

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