Thirty-six Blount County seniors earn scholarships from Prudentia Masonic Lodge #719

Prudentia Masonic Lodge #719 has awarded $60,000 in scholarships to 36 Blount County seniors.

The scholarship, named after James Leonard Jenkins, is awarded to qualified high school seniors who are attending a four-year university, two-year college, or trade school.

What makes the scholarship unique is the fact that any Blount County resident can apply, so long as they attend one of the public schools, whether in the county or city, Prudentia Lodge Treasurer Tom Moore explained.

In previous years, the Prudentia Lodge would host a reception for the scholarship winners, but this year, they had so many scholarship winners that a reception would not have been feasible, Moore said — a welcome problem to have.

Moore explained that the scholarship is designed to assist first-generation college students or students with financial need. The funds awarded are to be used during their first year in school.

Moore said the members of the Prudentia Lodge do not determine who receives the scholarship. They leave that up to the discretion of each school’s guidance counselor.

“You just don’t know their circumstances,” Moore said.

Moore mentioned that a previous scholarship recipient had been living in a car while attending school.

The number of recipients has grown each year since the scholarship began in 2013, when four students were awarded scholarships.

Since then, Prudentia Lodge has awarded almost $600,000 in scholarships to approximately 241 students.

“We are proud to be able to do that,” Moore said.

It seems as though it may keep growing. Moore explained that Eagleton High School will soon have its first class of graduating seniors, and some eligible students will likely apply for the scholarship.

The award honors James Leonard Jenkins, one of Prudentia Lodge’s first members to receive the Master Mason degree when the lodge was chartered in 1923.

Funding for the scholarship comes from the Alton and Pauline Doolittle Foundation. Pauline Doolittle was the daughter of Jenkins and alumni of Alcoa High School.