Photo courtesy of the Chelsea Youth Center.
Dawson Ingram and Ally Nelson pose with their scholarship certificates for the Kristi Barker Ingram Memorial Scholarship.
In 2017, Chelsea resident Kristi Barker Ingram passed away after a long battle with breast cancer. Known and loved throughout the community, she was a longtime supporter of the city’s schools and youth center and taught Sunday school for many years.
To honor Ingram’s memory, the Chelsea Youth Center has begun a scholarship fund in her name.
“As soon as Kristi passed away, the Chelsea Youth Center leadership and members wanted to make sure that the Ingrams’ immediate financial needs were met, but we also wanted to create something lasting that would honor Kristi for years to come,” said Brad Herrington, a director at the Chelsea Youth Center. “Wade Dockery and I met a few times to have initial discussions about the KBI Scholarship, and then we met the Chelsea Youth Center Executive Board and [Kristi Ingram’s husband] David Ingram to formally plan out the application process, funding and selection process.”
Partnering with the city’s sport boards, businesses and friends close to the Ingram family, the youth center’s executive board instituted a $2,000 scholarship in Ingram’s memory to be awarded annually to a male and female high school senior.
To be applicable for the scholarship, students must be graduating from Chelsea High School with a 3.0 GPA or higher, must be in good moral standing with the high school and have completed five hours of community service.
In the application, students must detail their activities at school, church and in the community, along with detailing their Chelsea Youth Club experience. Lastly, in the personal statement, the applicant has to describe how the scholarship will help them, a time when they worked hard at something and it paid off and their experience with community service and how it has affected them.
The scholarship was awarded for the first time to two members of the Chelsea High School senior class of 2018: Alexandra “Ally” Nelson and Kristi Ingram’s son, Dawson Ingram.
Nelson received a 25 on the ACT, graduated with a 3.97 grade point average and is attending Alabama A&M for fashion merchandising, with plans to pursue a career in the field.
Dawson Ingram received a 28 on the ACT, graduated with a 4.14 grade point average and is attending Troy University on the pre-med track to become a pediatrician.
“We do have plans to continue the scholarship going forward, and we are in discussions now on fundraisers going forward to continue to fund the scholarship,” said Dockery, executive president for the city of Chelsea’s Parks and Recreation department.
To fund the scholarship, the youth center will host different sporting events, such as its fall baseball tournament and Thanksgiving basketball tournament. Donations will be collected in October at “Pink Out” games for the Chelsea Middle and High football teams, as well as KBI Night for the middle school tackle teams.
Chelsea Mayor Tony Picklesimer also named a field at the Chelsea Sports Complex on Shelby Road 11 in Ingram’s honor.
“I think she would very proud of what has been done in developing this scholarship opportunity for Chelsea High School seniors,” David Ingram said via email. “The scholarship will always help those in the Chelsea community to remember Kristi’s fight, will to live and never-give-up attitude and hopefully encourage others when facing their own personal battles.”