Nancy Dalton, a senior at Eastern High School, received a big surprise Sunday morning at the First Baptist Church in Salem where she worships.
Washington County Community Foundation board member Karen Davis and Pastor Steve Gorman worked with Lindsey Wade-Swift to surprise Dalton at church on Sunday morning with a four-year, full tuition scholarship as the Washington County Community Foundation 2014 Lilly Endowment Community Scholar.
The service is broadcast on WSLM and streamed online at wslmradio.com.
She is a senior at Eastern High School and plans on studying biology prior to attending medical school. Nancy is president of the Washington County Youth Foundation, student body president, National Honor Society president, runs track and cross country, and participates in many other school and community activities.
Thirty applications were turned in for the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship to the Washington County Community Foundation. The WCCF has developed a score sheet and ranking based on criteria that includes: GPA, SAT/ACT scores, financial need, first generation college student, activities, community service, honors/awards, and essay. The top students are then chosen to interview in front of the WCCF Scholarship Committee. After the scholarship committee narrowed the field to four nominees, the finalists’ names were submitted to Independent Colleges of Indiana, Inc. (ICI) for the selection of the recipient.
ICI is a nonprofit corporation that represents 31 regionally accredited degree granting, nonprofit, private colleges and universities in the state.
The scholarships are the result of a statewide Lilly Endowment initiative to help Hoosier students reach higher levels of education. Indiana ranks among the lowest states in the percentage of residents over the age of 25 with a bachelor’s degree. There were 142 scholarships awarded statewide.
