TNStars program awarded 5 kids with $1000 for future higher education

Five children won $1,000 scholarships from the TNStars 529 College Savings Program in September.

The scholarship giveaway is meant to encourage Tennessee residents to win a $1000 scholarship on behalf of a child 10 years old or younger. There were 2,774 entrants across Tennessee this year, with winners announced each week on the TNStars Facebook page.

Who won?

Aurora Nolan, 10, from Jacksboro
Leighton Lammers, 4, from Nashville
Flynn Johnson McDonald, 7, from Nashville
Hudson Dunham, 4, from Memphis
Jacob Vu, 8, from Kingston

Why scholarships for kids?

The funds are meant to be used for future education expenses — things like tuition, housing and books. The money is deposited into a TNStars scholarship account until needed.

"I want to congratulate Aurora, Leighton, Flynn, Hudson, and Jacob, and encourage each of you to use these scholarship funds to pursue your career aspirations,” Treasurer Lillard said. “It's important to start saving early, so that compounding interest works for you rather than against you with student loans, and I hope this scholarship will help you get started down that path.”

The TNStars College Savings 529 program is open for families to open an account with as little as $25 to start.

Rebecca: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/a2/d9/fb69982545c59e9836fbe80fe431/rebecca-recommends.png

Carrie: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/2e/72/be0f23854c54a228c9d6138c9847/carrie-recommends-header.png

Ben: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/df/c4/19fa7c504480938f39a431e3b276/ben-recommends-header.png

Amy: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/b9/b6/1408516a4a91b97639b178fc1ba9/amy-recommends-header.png

Rhori: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/5b/25/a224d13d47739165c92b94e643db/rhori-recommends-header.png

Lelan: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/af/54/833bf879454097a398bd44f723de/lelan-recommends.png

There are a lot of great schools in our area. Congratulations to four schools in the mid-state that were awarded National Blue Ribbons for Academic Execellence. The were among six in Tennessee to receive that honor. They were among 356 schools across the United States to be recognized by the U.S. Department of Education!

-Lelan Statom