Hoover chamber awards $16,000 in scholarships to four 2018 seniors
The Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce on May 17 awarded four $4,000 scholarships to seniors at four high schools.
Maggie Knighton of Hoover High School won the Bill and Dr. Gail Powell Scholarship. She achieved a 3.9 GPA in high school, was a senior class officer, member of the National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society and was voted friendliest in her senior class.
She also was in the Finance Academy and won a state competition by inventing a product that clips umbrellas to shopping carts to keep the umbrellas secure and dry while people shop.
Knighton plans to attend Auburn University and major in accounting. Knighton, who has worked to overcome a speech impediment, upon graduating college would like to open an audiology clinic in Hoover to help other people overcome similar problems.
Joey St. Cyr of Spain Park High School won a scholarship provided with funding from the Jefferson County Commission.
St. Cyr achieved a 4.39 GPA and scored a 32 on the ACT college admission test. He was a part of the Health Sciences Academy, HOSA-Future Health Professionals, junior and senior class officers and several honor societies, and was co-captain of the Spain Park basketball team.
He plans to attend Auburn University and pursue a degree in pharmacy. St. Cyr, who lost 70 pounds to help him make the Spain Park basketball team, has a passion for nutrition and wants to do research on nutritional ingredients that are beneficial to athletes and create his own business to sell high-quality, safe nutritional supplements.
Grace Elliott of Briarwood Christian High School received the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation Scholarship.
She achieved a 4.24 GPA and was a member of the National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, yearbook staff and student government, and she was a founding member of the Briarwood ladies golf team.
She plans to attend Troy University and study biology with the goal of becoming a dermatologist, inspired by a grandmother who passed away from skin cancer in 2009.
Olivia Shivers of Oak Mountain High School also received a scholarship.
She achieved a 4.4 GPA and a score of 33 on the ACT and was ranked 12th out of 242 seniors at Oak Mountain High. She was a member of the Oak Mountain Ambassadors, National Honor Society, Science Honor Society and Rho Kappa National Social Studies Honor Society.
Shivers plans to attend the University of Alabama at Birmingham and major in biomedical engineering and eventually attend medical school.
The chamber scholarships were open to employees of chamber members or the city of Hoover, or their children. A committee examined the applications and called in eight of the applicants for 30-minute interviews before deciding on the four scholarship recipients, said Paul Dangel, vice president of the chamber.
The winners were chosen based on academic achievement, financial need and contributions to the community, he said. Next year, the chamber hopes to award $20,000 in scholarships, Dangel said.
David Bobo, a member of the Shelby County Board of Education and director of community and media relations for Jefferson State Community College, shared with the audience at the May 17 chamber luncheon about what Jeff State has to offer and encouraged parents to closely examine their children’s interests, goals and abilities as they consider life after high school.
He has seen many parents force their children into a four-year college when the students weren’t really ready for that experience, he said. It’s a good decision for some students, but others do better starting at a two-year college, earning certification in a career, or going straight into the workforce, he said.