Girls Inc. announces scholarship recipients

Girls Inc. of Fort Smith recently presented more than $10,000 to Sarah Edgmon, Destiny Gordon, Jessie May, Stephanie Poarch, Danielle Huggins, Kylie Ballard and Rebecca Bass.

Since 1980, when the scholarship program was established, Girls Incorporated has given more than $260,000 in scholarships to high school seniors and returning college students. The funds are awarded to applicants who have been involved in the program for at least two years, and who embody the organization’s motto ‘Strong, Smart, Bold’.

Edgmon is a sophomore at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith where she is studying human resource management. She works at ABF, but was previously employed at Girls Inc.  and attended as a child starting at the age of five years old.

Gordon has worked for Girls Inc. since 2008. She recently graduated from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She was recently accepted into the graduate program at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock.

May is a junior at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith where she is pursuing a degree in radiology. She began attending Girls Inc. at the age of seven years old and is currently employed there.

Poarch is an accounting student at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. She worked at Girls Inc. for two and a half years and often led many of their national program efforts.

Huggins is planning to teach middle school after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith where she is a senior. She is employed at Girls Inc.

Ballard recently graduated from Southside High School and plans to attend the University of Arkansas at Monticello. She played volleyball and basketball at Girls Inc. growing up, where she developed a love for the game, and continued her success in sports throughout high school as a starter for both the softball and volleyball teams.

Bass recently graduated from Southside High School and will attend Central Baptist College. She was a member of Girls Inc. for three years where she attended a year of summer programming and three years of basketball. She also returned to volunteer coach while in high school.

Following are those who have supported the scholarship program:
• June Alexander and her husband Jim, who started the first scholarship fund in 1980;
• The families and friends of Roger and Charlene Curtis who established an endowment scholarship fund in their memory;
• Dr. W.C. Holmes; and,
• The Arkansas Best Corporation “do gooders club” who donates to the fund annually.