Hoover Service Club gives $28,000 in 2022 scholarships
The Hoover Service Club today gave out $28,000 worth of scholarships and awards to 10 seniors from Hoover and Spain Park high schools and honored six middle school students for exemplary academic performance and citizenship.
The scholarships and awards were made possible by Hoover Service Club fundraisers, said Liz Willoughby, who led the club’s scholarship committee along with Debra Taylor and Barbara Henry.
This year’s scholarship winners from Hoover High School and the institutions they plan to attend are:
- Mary Batchelor, University of North Alabama
- Lauren Harding-Smith, Auburn University
- Claire Manering, University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Madelyn Stocks, Auburn University
- Faith Stoudemire, Troy University
This year’s scholarship winners from Spain Park High School and the institutions they plan to attend are:
- Autumn Harper, Jefferson State Community College
- Selma Maric, Elon University
- Keonna Tooson, University of Alabama
The Service Club also gave out two awards to a senior from each high school who understands the importance of serving their community.
The Margaret Alford Community Service Award, named after a former Service Club member who had a passion for giving back to the community, went to Nick Berg of Hoover High School.
Berg, who loves working with children, has spent five years volunteering for the sports summer camps at the Finley Center. He has served 346 hours of community service by also serving with Prince of Peace Catholic Church Vacation Bible School and the Hoover Public Library summer reading program.
In addition to his community service work, Berg works at Chick-fil-A at The Grove. He maintains strong academics, is in Advanced Placement classes and is very involved in extracurricular activities, serving as a senior class officer, co-captain of the varsity soccer team and Peer Helper.
Berg plans to attend Auburn University, where he wants to learn about business, finance and entrepreneurship. He aspires to own his own business in the future.
Kennedy Holloway of Spain Park High School was awarded the Ardith McMicken Community Service Award, also named after a former Service Club member with a strong record of service.
Holloway has accumulated 260 community service hours doing things such as working with Westminster Presbyterian Church, the Birmingham chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Youth Serve of Alabama, the McWane Center and the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama's mobile food pantry.
Holloway, an ambassador at Spain Park High, has maintained a strong academic record and been active in many extracurricular activities, including show choir and tennis. She also is very passionate about feeding others and has worked with the Backpack Buddies program that provides a weekend supply of food for students in need on Fridays.
Holloway plans to Tennessee State University, where she has been accepted into the honors college and plans to major in mechanical engineering.
The Service Club also recognized one student from each of Hoover’s three middle schools for outstanding citizenship and one student from each middle school for outstanding academics.
The middle school citizenship awards went to Alex Ritchey of Berry Middle, Elijah Burns of Bumpus Middle and Hadley Galbaugh of Simmons Middle, while the academic awards went to Sanika Nair of Berry, Lily Beam of Bumpus and Gracie Benefield of Simmons.
The scholarships and awards were presented to the winners at the Hoover Country Club. Other club members who helped select winners this year were Sandy Dangel, Gwen Grasso, Hope Lawson, Betty Moulton, Anne-Marie Myers, Karli Piennette, Liesa Pitts and Donna Taylor.