HOLMES BEACH – Three deserving Manatee County students received $1,000 scholarships from the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce.
The scholarships were awarded to Parrish Community High School student Kelton Hardee, Manatee High School student Ella Fish and Lakewood Ranch High School student Zacharian Kersey.
The scholarship presentations took place at the LaPensee Plumbing, Pools & Air headquarters in Holmes Beach on Thursday, April 2, during this month’s AMI Chamber of Commerce’s monthly business card exchange gathering.
When speaking to The Sun, Chamber President Terri Kinder said, “The scholarships are awarded by the Chamber to support our local students’ endeavors to continue their education and to further support our community.
“The Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce presents three $1,000 scholarships annually to committee-selected applicants throughout Manatee County who will be furthering their education. Further education can be a four-year school, a two-year school or a trade school. Scholarship applications are received by the Chamber of Commerce and then provided to the Scholarship Committee to determine the recipients,” Kinder said.
The scholarship awards are funded by a part of the proceeds generated by the Chamber’s annual Bayfest festival and the Chamber’s annual golf tournament.
Hardee and Fish attended the April 2 scholarship award ceremony. Kersey could not attend the scholarship presentation ceremony because he was out of town for a track meet. His mother, Angel Kersey, accepted the scholarship award for him, accompanied by his grandmother, Mildred Jackson.
Karen LaPensee called each scholarship award winner forward to receive their award. When doing so, she listed some of the recipients’ academic achievements.
Hardee plans to attend State College of Florida in Bradenton to earn a degree in nursing. He’s given over 400 hours of community service while serving as a JROTC Battalion Commander. In that role, he oversaw a service-learning program that generated donations for Dogs Inc. He also led a literary outreach initiative that supported over 200 students throughout Manatee County. And he designed a student/cadet mentorship program. He plans to become a registered nurse and pursue a physician assistant degree.
Fish is graduating with an AP Capstone diploma. Through her rigorous interest in math classes and her love of theater, Fish developed an interest in industrial engineering and stage management. She plans to attend the University of Miami in pursuit of an industrial engineering degree. She also plans to continue indulging her passion for theater.
On May 18, Kersey will graduate from Lakewood High School at the top of his class. He has applied his computer science and website design skills as a tool for community involvement and impact.
When accepting Zach’s scholarship award, Angel said that before Zach graduates from high school, he will first graduate with an associate degree from State College of Florida on May 8.
Angel said Zach was accepted to attend the University of Florida, but he changed his mind and will instead pursue a software engineering degree at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona.
Before the scholarship awards were presented, Karen LaPensee said, “We host this event on an annual basis with the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce for our scholarship program. Not only do we have these bright students that we’re able to honor, we also have the benefit of our community meeting these phenomenal young people.”
She said the Chamber received 26 scholarship applications this year.
During the business card exchange, Chamber members enjoyed coconut shrimp, tuna sushi and sesame chicken catered by The Feast restaurant and provided by LaPensee Plumbing, Pools & Air. The Chamber members also enjoyed free beer and wine courtesy of LaPensee Plumbing, Pools & Air.
The chamber event also featured raffle prizes donated by Chamber members.
The April AMI Chamber business exchange will be held at the Anna Maria Island Historical Museum in Anna Maria on Thursday, April 23 at 5 p.m.
