NEWTON AND HIGH AWARDED LOCAL SCHOLARSHIPS FOR BENEFICIAL IDEAS
The grand prize of $2,500 was awarded to Markari Newton, a senior at Richwood High School. His essay, "How to Better Protect Pedestrians on Highway 165", was original, persuasive, and addressed a major safety issue in Northeast Louisiana. His traffic safety proposal argued that modernized and elevated crosswalks, sidewalks to keep pedestrians from walking on the highway, and better lighting in high foot traffic areas would drastically reduce pedestrian injuries and fatalities on Highway 165 in Monroe and Richwood. This issue is personal to us at Parker Alexander because we’ve represented families who have lost loved ones on Highway 165 who might still be alive today if these safeguards had been in place. Newton plans to major in engineering and is still determining his university of choice.
The second prize of $500 went to Henry High, a senior at Neville High School. While some of our entries this year sought to punish bad drivers, Henry advocated improving safety by rewarding good drivers, especially those in high-risk groups such as teenagers. His essay suggested that local businesses and community members should come together to purchase gift cards as an incentive for teenage drivers who remain accident and traffic ticket-free. Our community would reap the reward with fewer crashes, fewer medical bills, fewer insurance claims, and fewer repair bills. High plans to attend National Park College in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and will play baseball.
This year, the Parker Alexander Scholarship application period was January 1st to April 11th. Annually, the Parker Alexander Scholarship program offers university and high school students who are legal residents of the 12 Northeast Louisiana parishes an opportunity to win a $2,500 scholarship grand prize or a $500 scholarship second prize. One (1) grand prize scholarship winner and one (1) second prize scholarship winner will be selected. Assessment criteria must include persuasiveness, creativity, originality, feasibility, as well as a short statement about individual scholarship needs and the student’s planned course of study in college.
For more information, please contact Chad Carter, (318) 322-7373 or chad@parkeralexander.com.
Markari Newton Photo (L to R): Kevin Alexander, Markari Newton, Chad Carter
Henry High Photo (L to R): Kevin Alexander, Henry High, Chad Carter