Meet the new crop of Take Stock scholars


  • September 23, 2014
  • /   Reggie Dogan
  • /   education

More than two dozen young people have an opportunity to improve their lives by attending college.

Take Stock in Children announced its 26 recipients of the Florida Prepaid College Tuition Scholarship on Sept. 16 at New World Landing.

The Escambia County Public Schools Foundation introduced the students to a gathering of nearly 300 family members, mentors, and community and civic leaders in attendance at the scholarship dinner.

The new recipients bring to 118 the total number of students in the scholarship program in Escambia County.

The students now are in grades seven through 12 and will receive college scholarships after graduation from high school, as long as they maintain program standards.

To stay in good standing, students must agree to make good grades and regularly attend school; to be good citizens; to stay out of trouble and away from drugs; and to meet weekly with a volunteer mentor.

Take Stock in Children is a statewide, nonprofit organization that provides scholarships and mentors to deserving students selected through a need-based application process.

Public school officials select them at the end of the students’ sixth-grade year. Twenty-one of the new students this year are seventh-graders and five more were selected from previous years’ alternate lists.

Currently, 75 high school graduates are pursuing their college education using Take Stock scholarships, and 45 already have graduated since the program’s inception in Escambia County in 2006. Many of the students are the first in their families to attend college. Money each scholarship is donated locally and a dollar-for-dollar match is received from Florida Prepaid College Foundation when scholarships are purchased.

Sponsors for the Sept. 16 dinner included A Bodacious Family of Shops, AppRiver and the Escambia County Public Schools Foundation.

Through Take Stock in Children, you can make a difference in the life of a young person.

Whether it is donating money towards a scholarship or volunteering your time as a mentor, you can help give the greatest gift of all — an education. For more information, contact Sally Lee, director of Escambia County’s Take Stock in Children, at 469-5458, or email [email protected].

The new students, their school and their mentor include:

  • Mya Acoba, Brown Barge Middle; mentor Mari Abbate.
  • Savanna Bowen, Ransom Middle; mentor Lynne Bates.
  • Brandon Brantley, Bellview Middle; mentor Dave Bates.
  • Sylvia Callihan, Warrington Middle; mentor Veronica Dias.
  • Tristan Cravatt, Bailey Middle; mentor Jack McNulty,
  • Breona Dean, Ferry Pass Middle; mentor Fernaundra Ferguson.
  • Lucas Dinsmore, Bailey Middle; mentor Pete King.
  • Lina Foust, Pine Forest High; mentor Anita Prentiss.
  • Diamond Franklin, Escambia High; mentor Ruth Jenkins.
  • Morgan Garner, Bailey Middle; mentor Neeltje McNulty.
  • Ian Gifford, Ernest Ward Middle; mentor Bob Goforth.
  • Angel Goldsby, Workman Middle; mentor Stephanie Noa.
  • Haley Hennington, Bellview Middle; mentor Mallory Studer.
  • Madison Hurston, Ransom Middle; mentor Cindy Barrington.
  • Issiah Johnson, Bailey Middle; mentor Ken Biland.
  • Lari McCann, Northview High; mentor Cynthia Worrell-White.
  • Thinh Pham, Warrington Middle; mentor John Fromularo.
  • Annemarie Pigg, Bailey Middle; mentor Susan Myrick.
  • Ben Potts, Brown Barge Middle; mentor Rusty Branch.
  • Malcolm Pressley, Workman Middle; mentor Andy Arnold.
  • Teriana Redmond, Ernest Ward Middle; mentor Sherri Stallworth.
  • Ashleigh Smith, Ferry Pass Middle; mentor Freida Nichols.
  • Kiplin Smith, Workman Middle; mentor Charity Hamilton.
  • Taylor Smith, Tate High; mentor Sandra Durr.
  • Austin Witt, Woodham Middle; mentor Bob Hoyt.
  • Ashten Wright, Ernest Ward Middle; mentor Ray Sellers.
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