Two students will receive a four-year, full-tuition scholarship as the Johnson County Community Foundation 2014 Lilly Endowment Community Scholars.
Samuel Hicks and Mariah Smith will receive full tuition to the Indiana College of their choice and a $900 yearly stipend for required books and equipment.
Hicks is the son of Jeffrey and Elizabeth Hicks of Greenwood. He currently attends Greenwood Community High School with the intention of continuing his education at Purdue University in the fall. Samuel plans on studying aeronautical engineering. Samuel has served over 400 hours of community service, and has participated on several varsity athletics teams while in high school. He aspires to work in an aeronautical engineering field after graduation where he would have to have high level security clearance.
Smith is the daughter of Ronald and Anita Smith of Greenwood. She attends Center Grove Community High School, and is planning on attending Purdue University in the fall to study materials science and engineering/ mechanical engineering. Mariah has helped to start the county’s first girls only robotics league and has been involved in the Girl Scouts working specifically to encourage young women and girls to get involved in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) programs.
This is the 17th year that the Johnson County Community Foundation has administered the program. Applicants were selected based on volunteer community service, academic preparation and performance, leadership, and good character.
Each year, the eleven member scholarship committee puts a great deal of time and thought into selecting these scholars. After the Johnson County Community Foundation scholarship committee narrowed the field to the final nominees, the finalists’ names were submitted to Independent Colleges of Indiana, Inc. (ICI) for the selection of the recipients.
ICI is a nonprofit corporation that represents 31 regionally accredited degree granting, nonprofit, private colleges and universities in the state.
The scholarships are the result of a statewide Lilly Endowment initiative to help Hoosier students reach higher levels of education.
The Johnson County Community Foundation is a nonprofit public charity established in 1991 to serve donors, award grants and provide leadership to improve Johnson County forever. For more information, call JCCF at 317-738-2213 or visit our website at jccf.org.
