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Foundation awards local students with over $1M in scholarships

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Posted at 11:19 AM, Jun 22, 2022
and last updated 2022-06-22 11:19:20-04

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - ACCESS College Foundation hosted the Scholarship Awards Luncheon, awarding more than $1 million in scholarships.

The luncheon is an annual celebration of the achievements of ACCESS Scholars, but due to COVID, this is the first one to take place since 2019.

This year, the foundation awarded “Last-Dollar” scholarships to 114 students, totaling more than $1 million. Scholarships ranged from $5,000 to $110,000.

“We are ecstatic to once again bring together our ACCESS Scholars to celebrate all that they have accomplished,” said Bonnie B. Sutton, President and CEO of ACCESS College Foundation. “Many of these students have faced numerous hardships over the past few years, and we are honored to recognize them for their hard work and commitment to pursuing their education.”

One of the scholarships was the Robert H. Wells and Janice G. Wells Myers-Lawson School of Construction Scholarship, which covers tuition, fees, room and board for four years at Virginia Tech. It was awarded to Keegin Jessee, a Great Bridge High School graduate who was accepted into the Building Construction program.

The first round of scholarships awarded as part of this annual celebration happened on June 8. Three $25,000 scholarships were awarded to students. Cameron David-Elsbery of Maury High School, Victoria Rojas of Oscar Smith High School and Catherine Rose Kelly of Ocean Lakes High School were each selected based on their “Beating the Odds” essays in which they described hardships they have overcome.