Southern Perry County Academic Endowment Fund announces grant, scholarship recipients

CORNING — The Southern Perry County Academic Endowment Fund (SPCAEF) has awarded more than $50,000 in 2024 community grants and scholarships.

“The opportunities we are creating today will be felt for years to come as we invest in our neighbors, our community and the future of Southern Perry County,” said Angela Plant, president of the SPCAEF board. “None of this would be possible without the generosity of many donors and local residents who give their time, talent and passion to create more opportunities for our communities.”

Scholarship recipients

Nine graduating seniors and graduates of Miller High School were awarded 28 scholarships to support their postsecondary education. They are:

• Jayden Agriesti received the Corning Alumni Scholarship.

• Sarah Alfman received the Catherine Blankenship Scholarship; the Jack and Clara Reho Scholarship; the Jesse, Olema and Ralph Drake Scholarship; and the Joseph and Marie Lichtenstein Scholarship.

• Courtney Glenaman received the Catherine Blankenship Scholarship; the Charlene Joseph Scholarship; the Jesse, Olema and Ralph Drake Scholarship; and the Shawnee Alumni Scholarship.

• Taylor Hinkle received the Catherine Blankenship Scholarship; the Commander Lambert Scholarship; the Donald and Catherine Palmer Scholarship; the Jesse, Olema and Ralph Drake Scholarship; and the Paul and Charlotte Hope Scholarship.

• Torin Hinkle received the Catherine Blankenship Scholarship; the Jesse, Olema and Ralph Drake Scholarship; and the Robert Woodruff and Charles and Elizabeth Woodruff Scholarship.

• Alyssa Kiefer received the Ben and Alyce Shaver Scholarship and the Jesse, Olema and Ralph Drake Scholarship.

• Brynley Needham received the Briggs Family Scholarship; the Catherine Blankenship Scholarship; the Vincent and Gene Hope Scholarship; and the William and Frances Dunlap Scholarship.

• Joseph Tokie received the Bruce and Delores Hannah Scholarship; the Catherine Blankenship Scholarship; the Jesse, Olema and Ralph Drake Scholarship; the John and Elsie Exenkemper Scholarship; and the Murray and Lulu Brown Scholarship.

• Alaina Weiner received the Jesse, Olema and Ralph Drake Scholarship.

Grant recipients

SPCAEF also awarded seven community grants to Southern Perry County organizations and schools to support programs that provide academic excellence and educational enrichment opportunities. The 2024 grant recipients are:

• Little Cities of Black Diamonds to support live interpretive performances that connect area youth to local and regional history.

• Shawnee Masonic Lodge 526 to help finish interior repairs to a building that will house a library for the village, which has been without one since 2009.

• Southern Local School District received four grants to support educational programming at Miller High School: (1) to purchase equipment for a journalism class; (2) to fund a physics independent study project through which students will design, budget for and execute their own idea; (3) to purchase books for French classes; and (4) to fund an opportunity for students to earn 12 credential points and a year’s advancement in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

• Tecumseh Theater to support its 2024 Summer YouthShops!, a day camp provided at no cost to Perry County youth.

Part of the Community Foundation for Perry County’s family of funds, SPCAEF was established in 1987 to create and grow resources that promote learning experiences for residents of the Southern Local School District. SPCAEF partners with the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio to award scholarships and community grants annually.

For more information on SPCAEF and how you can support educational and other opportunities in your community, visit www.AppalachianOhio.org, email info@ffao.org or call 740.753.1111.

Submitted by the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio