Two Boone County students have been named recipients of four-year, full-tuition scholarships as the Community Foundation of Boone County 2015 Lilly Endowment Community Scholars. Justin Garrard of Lebanon High School and Erin Paul of Zionsville Community High School will receive full tuition to the Indiana college of their choice and a $900 stipend for required books and equipment.
Son of Jeffrey and Melissa Garrard, Justin’s accomplishments include the varsity football team, founding the Tiger Tech Computer Programming Club, serving as class president all four years of high school and as the News Page and Sports editor of The Pennant, LHS’ student newspaper. In addition to his school accomplishments, Justin is a board member for Boone County Youth as Resources, represented Indiana as a delegate to the 2014 United States Senate Youth Program and served as an intern for the United States Office of Naval Research at the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center. Justin plans to major in computer engineering and computer science at the University of Notre Dame.
Erin, daughter of Bernard and Lisa Paul, is a member of the ZCHS Varsity Golf Team, National Honor Society, and the ZCHS math honor society, Mu Alpha Theta. Outside of school, Erin has volunteered as a Paws & Claws Club Camp Counselor for the Humane Society of Indianapolis, where she shares her passion for animals with campers. With the dream of becoming a research veterinarian, Erin will attend Purdue University where she will major in Genetics and Animal Science.
“The Community Foundation is thrilled to present this special honor to these two outstanding young people. They’ve already accomplished so much, and we are confident they will not only achieve their own dreams, but will make a difference in the lives of others in our community and beyond,” said Community Foundation President & CEO Jennifer Pendleton.
This year, 62 students applied for the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship. Nine finalists took part in an interview process and four students were submitted to Independent Colleges of Indiana, Inc. (ICI) as either nominees or alternates. The scholarship recipients are selected by a committee of county-wide volunteers who evaluate each student’s academic performance, work experience, extracurricular activities, community involvement, volunteerism and awards and honors. Since the inception of the Lilly Scholars Program in 1998, CFBC has awarded the scholarship to 13 Lebanon High School seniors, 14 Western Boone seniors, 12 Zionsville Community High School seniors, one Sheridan High School senior and one Covenant Christian senior.
ICI is a nonprofit corporation that represents 31 regionally accredited degree-granting, nonprofit, private colleges and universities in the state.
The scholarships are a result of a statewide Lilly Endowment initiative to help Hoosier students reach higher levels of education. Indiana ranks among the lowest states in percentage of residents over the age of 25 with a bachelor’s degree. There were 142 scholarships awarded statewide.