Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Big Sandy Community And Technical College Hosts 8th Annual Scholarship Reception
PRESTONSBURG KY (October 27, 2008) The Mayo Campus of Big Sandy Community and Technical College(BSCTC) was the site of the 8th Annual Scholarship Reception for BSCTC on Monday night, October 27, 2008.
Scholarship donors came together with scholarship recipients to exchange messages of gratitude and encouragement. The audience listened as donors told their own stories of life challenges they faced and their desire to give back to the communities they serve. Recipients spoke of gratitude and aspirations made possible through the generosity of donors who helped them meet the financial needs of getting an education.
Christine Conley, BSCTC Scholarship Committee member spoke about the needs students have and the ways scholarships meet those needs. She told the audience, “This year over $365,000 was awarded to 314 students.
We could have awarded twice that amount if the funding was available.”
She went on to say that over 500 students each year apply for scholarships and most meet the requirements for scholarships. “The committee works very hard to award the money that is available to the most deserving students,” Conley said.
Grover Arnett, a Salyersville attorney and a member of the Big Sandy College Educational Foundation, Inc. Board spoke about his struggles for an education in eastern Kentucky and his desire to be a partner in education with BSCTC and other colleges that offer students a quality education that they can afford. Arnett said that his mother always said to him, “Higher education is not an option, it’s a commandment.” He realized from early years, in the small three room house he grew up in, that an education was the way up and out of poverty. He shared stories of many of the people who helped him through their encouragement and financial assistance and the impact it had on him. He said, “I know I can make a difference in people’s lives because people have made a difference in my life.” Arnett established the William O. and Easter Arnett Foundation after he became a successful attorney and went on to establish the William O. and Easter Arnett Endowed Scholarship at BSCTC as a way to make a difference for others, just as others had done for him along the way.
Dennis Dorton, President of Citizens National Bank, spoke to the audience about corporate donorship. He said, “Scholarships and scholarship endowment is just good business.” He went on to say that a community benefits from each successful graduate and there can be no better way to support a community than through helping citizens earn an education and become contributing citizens. “Scholarships and scholarship endowments pay back for generations to come,” Dorton said.
Four students spoke to the crowd, expressing their appreciation for their scholarships and sharing a little of their hopes and dreams.
Susan Scott, a member of the Big Sandy Singers and a former student at BSCTC told of her pursuit of a degree in education. She will graduate this year from Morehead State University, prepared to teach. But Susan said, “I could not have done what I have over the past few years if it had not been for the scholarships I received at BSCTC. It allowed me to get an education, prepare for a future while I also pursued my passion, music.” Susan was a member of the original group of Big Sandy Singers and has stayed with the group through her college career. She told the assembled donors, “I want to thank you for the scholarships you give and I especially want to thank Dr. George Edwards for his support of the music program at BSCTC. I can’t tell you how much it has meant in my life and I am forever grateful for the opportunities that the vocal scholarship I was given have afforded me. ”
Jeff Green, from Savannah, Georgia, a John T. Smith Scholarship recipient said, “Being a recipient of a scholarship established by the first black doctoral graduate from the University of KY has inspired me.
“ Green plans to pursue his RN degree from Morehead State University and is determined to follow in the footsteps of his benefactor, John T.
Smith. Green said, “If he could be the first black to earn a doctorate from UK, then I can be successful also.” He concluded his remarks with a poem written by Gil Plants, in honor of Dr. Smith.
Nicole Johnson, also a recipient of the John T. Smith Scholarship spoke of a life of hardship and no roots. She said, “With the help of scholarships and the people at BSCTC, I have finally found a foundation I can build on. I plan to be a psychiatrist and I know I can achieve that.”
Sarah Adams, recipient of a Big Sandy Singers Vocal Scholarship said, “I came from a childhood that was interrupted. I was married at 15, dropped out of school and my life was on hold. I had a dream to get an education and to sing. When I dropped out of school it was all put on hold.” When Adams became aware of the scholarship through the Big Sandy Singers, she began to dream again. She enrolled in GED classes and auditioned for the Singers. She said, “There was nothing in my life that has meant as much to me as the chance to go back to school, get an education and to sing. This scholarship and Big Sandy Community and Technical College made that all possible. I am so grateful for the opportunity this scholarship has given me.”
The gift of scholarship is a gift that goes on giving. As Dennis Dorton said, “It impacts a community for generations to come.” When you give a scholarship, you improve the lives of not only the recipients but their children, grandchildren and all who come into daily contact with them.
You improve their image as a role-model in the eyes of their family, the earning power they have, the buying power they use in the community, the way they conduct themselves in daily life and the citizens they become as a result. Many of the donors who sat in the audience on Monday night were at former recipients of someone’s generosity. It instilled in them the desire to give back to the community that had given to them. Grover Arnett related a story about someone who had been a generous contributor to his education who said, “Don’t try to repay me, just do for someone else what I have done for you.” That’s the mark of good citizenship.
Some people call it “paying forward” instead of paying back.
Persons who would like to establish a scholarship or endowment can do so by contacting Jean Dorton at jean.dorton@kctcs.edu <mailto:jean.dorton@kctcs.edu> or call 606-886-7391 to talk to Leslie Bays. It may be the most important gift you will ever give.
Linda S. Lyon
Public Relations Director
big sandy horiz ctc tag clr copy
Scholarship donors came together with scholarship recipients to exchange messages of gratitude and encouragement. The audience listened as donors told their own stories of life challenges they faced and their desire to give back to the communities they serve. Recipients spoke of gratitude and aspirations made possible through the generosity of donors who helped them meet the financial needs of getting an education.
Christine Conley, BSCTC Scholarship Committee member spoke about the needs students have and the ways scholarships meet those needs. She told the audience, “This year over $365,000 was awarded to 314 students.
We could have awarded twice that amount if the funding was available.”
She went on to say that over 500 students each year apply for scholarships and most meet the requirements for scholarships. “The committee works very hard to award the money that is available to the most deserving students,” Conley said.
Grover Arnett, a Salyersville attorney and a member of the Big Sandy College Educational Foundation, Inc. Board spoke about his struggles for an education in eastern Kentucky and his desire to be a partner in education with BSCTC and other colleges that offer students a quality education that they can afford. Arnett said that his mother always said to him, “Higher education is not an option, it’s a commandment.” He realized from early years, in the small three room house he grew up in, that an education was the way up and out of poverty. He shared stories of many of the people who helped him through their encouragement and financial assistance and the impact it had on him. He said, “I know I can make a difference in people’s lives because people have made a difference in my life.” Arnett established the William O. and Easter Arnett Foundation after he became a successful attorney and went on to establish the William O. and Easter Arnett Endowed Scholarship at BSCTC as a way to make a difference for others, just as others had done for him along the way.
Dennis Dorton, President of Citizens National Bank, spoke to the audience about corporate donorship. He said, “Scholarships and scholarship endowment is just good business.” He went on to say that a community benefits from each successful graduate and there can be no better way to support a community than through helping citizens earn an education and become contributing citizens. “Scholarships and scholarship endowments pay back for generations to come,” Dorton said.
Four students spoke to the crowd, expressing their appreciation for their scholarships and sharing a little of their hopes and dreams.
Susan Scott, a member of the Big Sandy Singers and a former student at BSCTC told of her pursuit of a degree in education. She will graduate this year from Morehead State University, prepared to teach. But Susan said, “I could not have done what I have over the past few years if it had not been for the scholarships I received at BSCTC. It allowed me to get an education, prepare for a future while I also pursued my passion, music.” Susan was a member of the original group of Big Sandy Singers and has stayed with the group through her college career. She told the assembled donors, “I want to thank you for the scholarships you give and I especially want to thank Dr. George Edwards for his support of the music program at BSCTC. I can’t tell you how much it has meant in my life and I am forever grateful for the opportunities that the vocal scholarship I was given have afforded me. ”
Jeff Green, from Savannah, Georgia, a John T. Smith Scholarship recipient said, “Being a recipient of a scholarship established by the first black doctoral graduate from the University of KY has inspired me.
“ Green plans to pursue his RN degree from Morehead State University and is determined to follow in the footsteps of his benefactor, John T.
Smith. Green said, “If he could be the first black to earn a doctorate from UK, then I can be successful also.” He concluded his remarks with a poem written by Gil Plants, in honor of Dr. Smith.
Nicole Johnson, also a recipient of the John T. Smith Scholarship spoke of a life of hardship and no roots. She said, “With the help of scholarships and the people at BSCTC, I have finally found a foundation I can build on. I plan to be a psychiatrist and I know I can achieve that.”
Sarah Adams, recipient of a Big Sandy Singers Vocal Scholarship said, “I came from a childhood that was interrupted. I was married at 15, dropped out of school and my life was on hold. I had a dream to get an education and to sing. When I dropped out of school it was all put on hold.” When Adams became aware of the scholarship through the Big Sandy Singers, she began to dream again. She enrolled in GED classes and auditioned for the Singers. She said, “There was nothing in my life that has meant as much to me as the chance to go back to school, get an education and to sing. This scholarship and Big Sandy Community and Technical College made that all possible. I am so grateful for the opportunity this scholarship has given me.”
The gift of scholarship is a gift that goes on giving. As Dennis Dorton said, “It impacts a community for generations to come.” When you give a scholarship, you improve the lives of not only the recipients but their children, grandchildren and all who come into daily contact with them.
You improve their image as a role-model in the eyes of their family, the earning power they have, the buying power they use in the community, the way they conduct themselves in daily life and the citizens they become as a result. Many of the donors who sat in the audience on Monday night were at former recipients of someone’s generosity. It instilled in them the desire to give back to the community that had given to them. Grover Arnett related a story about someone who had been a generous contributor to his education who said, “Don’t try to repay me, just do for someone else what I have done for you.” That’s the mark of good citizenship.
Some people call it “paying forward” instead of paying back.
Persons who would like to establish a scholarship or endowment can do so by contacting Jean Dorton at jean.dorton@kctcs.edu <mailto:jean.dorton@kctcs.edu> or call 606-886-7391 to talk to Leslie Bays. It may be the most important gift you will ever give.
Linda S. Lyon
Public Relations Director
big sandy horiz ctc tag clr copy
# posted by Joe Kinzer @ 12:18 PM 
