Independence Bank awarded a record amount of $117,500 to area high school seniors within our service area at a scholarship reception held Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Eleven students were chosen as county finalists and awarded the Maurice E. Reisz $500 Scholarship along with a $500 Ernie and Martine Davis Scholarship. The eleven chosen were also competing for the Charles A. Reid $10,000 Scholarship.
The eleven finalists were:
- Linda Arakelyan-Murray High School
- Christopher Evan Clark-Daviess County High School
- Lauren Laumas-Daviess County High School
- Alexandra Geoghegan-Western Hills High School
- Blake Garvin-Hancock County High School
- Cameron Riley-Dawson Springs High School
- Luke Wilson-Henderson County High School
- Meg Hancock-Paducah Tilghman
- Haley Sams-McLean County High School
- Tryston Peacock-South Warren High School
- Jonathan Stubblefield-Webster County High School
The Charles A. Reid $10,000 Scholarship went to finalist Cameron Riley from Dawson Springs High School. This original scholarship started our program 15 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.
Linda Arakelyan of Murray High School received a $500 Calloway County Community Board Scholarship. Hannah Ray and Adyson Scott of Calloway County High School and Lily Ramey of Murray High School each received a $1,000 Calloway County Community Board Scholarship.
Britney Johnson and James Stein from Daviess County High School both received a $1,000 Daviess County community board scholarship. Finalist Christopher Evan Clark from Daviess County High School received a $2,000 Daviess County Community Board Scholarship. A $4,000 Daviess County Community Board Scholarship was also given to finalist Lauren Laumas from Daviess County High School.
Kendall Yount from Frankfort Christian Academy was the recipient of the Franklin Community Board $1,000 Scholarship.
Finalist Blake Garvin from Hancock County High School was the recipient of the Hancock Community Board $1,500 Scholarship.
Addie Farley of Henderson County High School was the recipient of the Henderson Community Board $3,000 Scholarship. Finalist Luke Wilson, received a $1,000 Henderson County Community Board Scholarship.
Sophia Zheng from Madisonville North Hopkins received a $2,000 Hopkins County Community Board Scholarship.
Caleigh Propes of McCracken County High School and Kelly Stewart of St. Mary High School each received a $1,000 McCracken County Community Board Scholarship. Finalist Meg Hancock of Paducah Tilghman received a $1,500 McCracken County Community Board Scholarship.
Madison Humphrey and Isaiah Vandiver of McLean County High School each received a $500 McLean County Community Board Scholarship. Serenity Burden, also of McLean County High School received a $1,000 McLean County Community Board Scholarship.
Taylor Creek of South Warren High School was presented a $2,000 scholarship and finalist Tryston Peacock also of South Warren High School was awarded $1,000 on behalf of the Warren County Community Board.
Aaron Hobgood of Webster County High School received a $1,500 scholarship on behalf of the Webster County Community Board.
New this year was the Spirit of ’76 Scholarship. There is a group of Senior Soccer players from Owensboro Catholic High School that have played together for over 10 years. Each young lady has shown great character on and off the field and represents what we feel at Independence Bank is the ‘Spirit of ‘76’ and has been awarded $1,000 each.
The recipients of the Spirit of ’76 scholarship were:
- Caroline Hayden
- Annabel Moore
- Sarah Riney
- Lindsey Klump
- Lucy Kurtz
- Sarah Haleman
- Emily Linn
- Madeline Reid
The Ernie & Martine Davis $3,000 Scholarship was presented to Luke Wilson from Henderson County High School.
Daniel Hardesty from Trinity High School was awarded The Lanham Family $3,000 Scholarship intended for a student pursuing a business major.
Mallory Galloway from Owensboro High School, Luke Reid from Owensboro Catholic High School, and James Payne from Henderson County High School were all the recipients of Revolutionary Scholarships in the amount of $5,000.
John Robert Murphy from Apollo High School received the $5,000 Independence Bank Ag Scholarship intended for a student pursuing a degree in agriculture.
Haley Sams of McLean County High School was awarded the $5,000 Independence Bank Chairman’s Scholarship by Independence Bank Chairman Chris Reid.
The $10,000 Maurice E. Reisz Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Colton Buck from Daviess County 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 Selena Coalter of Daviess 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.
Millicent Wade from Christian Academy High School in McCracken County 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 twelve county service areas of Calloway, Daviess, Franklin, Graves, Hancock, Henderson, Hopkins, Jefferson, 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 $695,350 in college scholarships to area high school seniors.
Independence Bank is a regional community bank with 22 locations in Kentucky and total assets over $1.8 billion.
