Independence Bank awarded a record amount of $91,800 to area high school seniors within our service area at a scholarship reception held Wednesday, March 25, 2015. Ten students were chosen as county finalists and awarded the Maurice E. Reisz $500 Scholarship along with a $500 Ernie and Martine Davis Scholarship. The ten chosen were also competing for the Charles A. Reid $10,000 Scholarship.
The ten finalists were:
Dakota Owens – Calloway County High School
Alexandria Girten – Owensboro High School
Lauren Williams – Daviess County High School
Rene Paul – Hancock County High School
Anna Mayo – Gatton Academy
Victoria Walker – Madisonville North Hopkins
Aaron Silverstein – Home Schooled, McCracken Co.
Blaise Payne – McLean County High School
Trevor Martin – Bowling Green High School
Ryann Wiggins – Webster County High School
The Charles A. Reid $10,000 Scholarship went to finalist Lauren Williams from Daviess County High School. This original scholarship started our program 14 years ago and is given in honor of former Independence Bank President, Charles A. Reid. His wish was to develop a scholarship program so that students could continue their pursuit of a higher education – something he placed the utmost importance on.
Alicia Grady of Calloway County High School and Sarah Whitney of Murray High School each received a $1,000 Calloway County community board scholarship.
Morgan Cecil from Owensboro High School and Joel Martin of Apollo High School, both received a $1,000 Daviess County community board scholarship. Finalist Alexandria Girten from Owensboro High School received a $5,750 Daviess County community board scholarship.
Rene Paul of Hancock County High School was the recipient of the Hancock community board $1,500 scholarship.
Erin Troy of Henderson County High School was the recipient of the Henderson community board $2,500 scholarship. Finalist Anna Mayo, received a $1,000 Henderson County community board scholarship.
Bo Smith of Hopkins Central High School was the recipient of the Hopkins County community board $1,000 scholarship.
Zachary Story of Paducah Tilghman High School and Robin Gericke of Open Door Academy each received a $1,000 McCracken County community board scholarship. Aaron Silverstein who is home schooled, received a $500 McCracken County community board scholarship.
Brenda Brackett and Joseph Turley of McLean County High School each received a $500 McLean County community board scholarship. Johnna Humphrey, also of McLean County High School received a $1,000 McLean County community board scholarship.
Alexa Anderson of Warren Central High School was presented a $1,750 scholarship and Trevor Martin from Bowling Green High School was awarded $750 on behalf of the Warren County community board.
Amanda Newman of Webster County High School received a $500 scholarship and Meredith Harley of Webster County High School received a $1,000 scholarship on behalf of the Webster County community board.
Levi Tapp of Webster County High School received the $1,000 Tommy & Bonita Chandler Scholarship.
Webster Co. Director, Dr. Wayne Cole along with his wife, awarded the Dr. Wayne and Billie Cole $1,000 Scholarship for the first time to Webster Co. High School student Taylor Main.
Independence Bank awarded a matching $1,000 scholarship to Dylan Sanford from Owensboro High School for receiving the Ted Sanford Scholarship based on his academic achievement.
The Ernie & Martine Davis $3,000 Scholarship was presented to Rachel Lawrence from Daviess County High School.
New this year was the Lanham Family $3,000 Scholarship. The Lanham family has been involved in various businesses for over 35 years and wanted to award this scholarship to a student pursuing a business major. The scholarship was presented to Gavin Sallee from McLean County High School.
Cassidy Neal from Calloway County High School received the $5,000 Independence Bank Ag Scholarship intended for a student pursuing a degree in agriculture.
Ronnie Weissend of Owensboro High School was awarded the $5,000 Independence Bank Chairman’s Scholarship by Independence Bank Chairman Chris Reid.
Awarded for the second year was the $10,000 Maurice E. Reisz Memorial Scholarship, presented to Hilary Adkins of Bowling Green High School. Mr. Reisz was a co-founder of Independence Bank and served as Chairman of the Independence Bank board. He was also a local pharmacist in Daviess County. The Maurice E. Reisz Memorial Scholarship was intended for a student pursuing a pharmacy degree.
The Guy Reisz Memorial $10,000 Scholarship was awarded to Brenda Boyken of McLean County High School. Mr. Reisz served as an Independence Bank board of director. The Guy Reisz Memorial Scholarship was intended for a student attending Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro.
Parker Adams of Calloway County High School was awarded the Marjorie Reid $10,000 scholarship. Marjorie Reid, wife of Charles A. Reid, was one of the founding partners of Independence Bank. Mrs. Reid awards this scholarship to a child or grandchild of an Independence Bank employee or director so that the pursuit of higher education is extended to our Bank family.
Congratulations to all finalists as you continue down your path of educational success!
The Independence Bank Scholarship Program is designed to encourage high school seniors in the Bank’s nine county service areas of Calloway, Daviess, Hancock, Henderson, Hopkins, McLean, McCracken, Warren and Webster counties to continue their education. Applicants were judged based on high school grades, ACT/SAT scores, essays and personal interviews. Since 2001, Independence Bank has awarded $577,850 in college scholarships to area high school seniors.
Independence Bank is a regional community bank with 19 locations in western Kentucky and total assets over $1.5 billion.
