The Oaklawn Foundation again increased the amount of scholarships awarded annually to Garland County residents with the presentation of 114 scholarships Thursday at National Park College.
A total of $344,000 will be distributed to this year's recipients. The annual ceremony was held Thursday morning in the Martin Eisele Auditorium of the Frederick M. Dierks Center for Nursing and Health Sciences.
Kerry Lockwood-Owen reflected on the foundation's first year to present scholarships. The inaugural class of 26 students each received $1,500 scholarships in 2007.
The foundation has now provided $1,812,000 in scholarships to Garland County residents in the last 10 years.
"This program is geared for anybody's desire to do better with their educational opportunities," Lockwood-Owen said. "Vocational school, technical school, two-year, four-year and we are the only program in the state that honors master's and Ph.D. programs.
"And I want to tell you, we encourage you to reapply every year. There's no guarantee you'll get another scholarship, but often there are many repeats. We never want it to be a limited opportunity."
The Oaklawn Foundation awarded $123,000 in scholarships to 41 recipients in 2013. The scholarships were modified the next year when 103 were presented. The 2015 class included 107 recipients for $328,000 in scholarships.
"We are grateful for Oaklawn and the Oaklawn Foundation and their dedication to education in Garland County," said NPC President John Hogan. "We are all blessed. We are all beneficiaries of a community investment in education, and specifically higher education. It pays dividends for quality of life. It pays dividends for you individually. We are very proud to be part of this event."
Oaklawn Foundation Chairman Darrell Meyer said the recipients are the "elitist of the elite." The foundation received nearly 425 applications this year.
"We want you to enjoy the money," Meyer said. "We want you to enjoy the education. Like John said, without Oaklawn Jockey Club, we wouldn't be here today."
Meyer's wife, Shirley, passed away in April. The couple had been married for 56 years.
Lockwood-Owen said the foundation will endow the $5,000 Darrell and Shirley Meyer Scholarship to be presented in future years.
Members of the foundation and the scholarship committee also decided to make a donation to the children's library of the Garland County Library. The $500 donation was used to purchase children's books in honor of Shirley Meyer.
"Darrell, we love you both, and she will be there in the hands of every child's book," Lockwood-Owen said.
Lockwood-Owen said the scholarships would not be possible without contributions from Oaklawn Racing and Gaming. Oaklawn General Manager Eric Jackson said Lockwood-Owen is responsible for organizing what the program began as 10 years ago and what it has become.
The Hot Springs Area Community Foundation receives and processes the scholarship applications, as well as the payments to each college and university. Rita Koller, executive assistant for The Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce, and chamber staff notify applicants and recipients.
Second-time recipient Jon Graves discussed the impact of his first scholarship a year ago. He struggled with the cost of college after he married his wife, earned compensation at a new job and lost eligibility for the Federal Pell Grant Program.
"All I could get was loans and this scholarship was just a huge blessing," Graves said. "I also put the Oaklawn Foundation Scholarship on my resume to the (Arkansas) Supreme Court. I kind of got the cart in front of the horse.
"I work with the Supreme Court in the court automation department. You're supposed to have a bachelor's degree. I went in and just won them over in the interview."
Graves is pursuing a bachelor's degree at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and plans to earn a master's degree.
Among the recipients was Ines Ramirez Santiago. Her brother, Jaime, was killed in an automobile accident the weekend before the 2015 scholarships were presented.
Both had been accepted into the nursing program at National Park College and were selected for the Oaklawn Foundation Scholarship. Ines was severely injured in the same accident.
She was able to return to school in the fall and utilized her scholarship, as well as the funds designated for Jaime's scholarship.
The Oaklawn Foundation recognized the Ramirez Santiago family with a memorial gift of $6,000 last year. The funds were donated to the college's nursing program.
Nursing faculty and staff determined to award two $1,500 scholarships. Dulce Olivia Diaz received the spring semester scholarship.
Melinda Gassaway, former executive editor of The Sentinel-Record, presented the Melinda Gassaway Scholarship to Rachel Asherman for the third time. The foundation established the scholarship after Gassaway retired in 2013.
"I am honored to be able to again present her with this so she may complete her studies to go on and, I'm sure, do good things in the area of communication," Gassaway said.
Asherman is a graduate of Lake Hamilton High School and will be a senior at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. She has received the scholarship each year it has been awarded. Students studying an area of broadcasting, communications or journalism are eligible to apply.
Lockwood-Owen also announced the foundation has provided $100,000 to the Wellness Fund for local school districts in the last four years. The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts joined the seven Garland County school districts and the college this year as a recipient of the Wellness Fund.
Local on 05/13/2016