Decatur County, IN — The Decatur County Community Foundation recently announced this year’s Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship recipient and the four DCCF Community Scholarship winners.
Lilly Endowment has selected Christina Fogg, a senior at Greensburg Community High School, as this year’s Decatur County recipient. Lilly Endowment Community Scholars are known for their community involvement, academic achievement, character, and leadership.
Each Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship provides for full tuition, required fees, and a special allocation of up to $900 per year for required books and equipment for four years of undergraduate study on a full-time basis leading to a baccalaureate degree at any eligible Indiana public or private nonprofit college or university.
Fogg is the daughter of William and Nancy Fogg. She is a 4-year member of 4-H, Students Against Destructive Decisions, student council, and volleyball. She has worked at A&W and a local farm; has helped with fundraisers at the Bread of Life and New Directions; as well as walked dogs at the local animal shelter and helped with her church picnic, among other activities.
The four remaining finalists for the Lilly Scholarship receive a DCCF Community Scholarship.
This year, the four finalists include Sophia Bushhorn from South Decatur High School (daughter of Thomas and Priscilla Bushhorn); Elizabeth Flessner from South Decatur (daughter of Matt and Pam Flessner); Paige Gauck from North Decatur High School (daughter of Kim and Andrew Gauck); and Jack Hamilton from South Decatur (son of Dale and Susan Hamilton).
Each of these students will receive a $5,000 scholarship from DCCF.
“We are very proud of all of these finalists,” said DCCF Scholarship Program Manager Jenny Schebler. “They are all outstanding students, and excellent representatives of our community.”
The Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship is a competitive award administered in Decatur County by the Decatur County Community Foundation. Fifty-five Decatur County students began the multi-step process in August by completing an online application and a controlled essay. A selection committee made up of local representatives evaluated each anonymous applicant’s citizenship, leadership, and personal attitude as demonstrated through involvement in the community, school activities, and jobs that they have held. Students were also evaluated on academics. A
second committee of volunteers from outside the community scored the 55 controlled essays.
The top five scores from this round of evaluations moved on to the finalist round, where they prepared and presented a speech to a new round of judges, along with answering some impromptu questions. Nominees were then submitted to the statewide administrator of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program, ICI, for the selection of scholarship recipients.
Lilly Endowment created the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program for the 1998-1999 school year and has supported the program every year since with tuition grants totaling in excess of $486 million. More than 5,000 Indiana students have received the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship since the program’s inception.
(Decatur County Community Foundation press release)
