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Ten local students have received $2,000 scholarships to encourage post-secondary continuing education as part of Prince Edward County’s vaccination scholarship program.

On Monday, Aug. 16, 10 Prince Edward youth had their names drawn at random to be selected for the scholarship. Scholarship recipients included Jaquan Brown, Morgan Curtis, Mason Dennison, JaNyla Green, Izaiah Harrison, Sarah Lucas, Aliyah Rachels, Anthony Scott, Ava Tibbs and Kolorado Webb.

In June, the Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors established the scholarship program with $5,000 in local funding to focus the community’s vaccination efforts on the future and to encourage students to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Local institutions and businesses and a Prince Edward County High School alumnus stepped forward to financially support the effort and expand the number of available scholarships. The additional $15,000 of funding allowed the Board of Supervisors to increase scholarship amounts to $2,000 for each of the 10 winning students.

Contributors to the vaccination scholarship fund included Centra Health, Hampden-Sydney College, Longwood University, Luck Stone, Prince Edward County, Mid-Atlantic Irrigation, Prince Edward County High School graduate Jim O‘Conner, Farmville Cares and Piedmont Senior Resources.

To be eligible for the drawing, students had to be Prince Edward County residents between the ages of 12 and 18 on August 1, and enrolled as a high school or middle school student during the 2021 calendar year, whether they attend homeschool, independent school or public school.

“Thank you to Prince Edward County and the sponsors of these scholarships,” Ava Tibbs, one of 10 scholarship winners, said. “I am very thankful to receive this scholarship and promise to continue to work hard in school and will proudly represent my family and Prince Edward County in the future.”

“I am so thankful to live in a community where an amazing scholarship was used as an incentive for kids to get the COVID vaccine,” Sarah Lucas, another scholarship recipient, said. ”Thank you to everyone who contributed to the college scholarship fund.”

Scholarship winners who will be headed to higher education or training programs will receive a check written jointly to the student and a postsecondary educational institution. For younger students, scholarships will be held in an account bearing the student’s name until graduation from high school.

“This is a community program designed to make all students safer as we start the 2021-2022 school year,” Doug Stanley, Prince Edward County administrator, said. “Our community really rallied around the idea, and we are so grateful for the support. Congratulations to each of the winners. The county is proud to be playing a part in their future through this opportunity to support their continuing education.”

While the scholarship drawing is now over, students and parents are still strongly encouraged to receive their vaccinations, particularly with the emergence of new variants. Visit VaccinatePrinceEdward.org for information about how adults and children can get a vaccination locally.