Independence Bank Awards Record $85,250 to Seniors

Independence Bank awarded a record amount of $85,250 to area high school seniors within our service area at a scholarship reception held in March. Ten students were chosen as finalists and awarded the Maurice E. Reisz $500 Scholarship. The ten chosen were also competing for the Charles A. Reid $10,000 Scholarship, the Ernie & Martine Davis $3,000 Scholarship and eight Ernie & Martine Davis $500 Scholarships. Out of the $85,250 that was awarded, $22,250 of that included 15 Independence Bank community board scholarships.

The ten finalists were:
Gabriella Cipolla – Greenwood High School
Cain Cooper – Henderson Co. High School
Laura Hunter – Apollo High School
Ashley Miller – McLean County High School
Jonathan Oldham – Madisonville North Hopkins High School
Janzten Sparks – Murray High School
Brittany Stone – Hancock County High School
Alexander Story – Paducah Tilghman High School
William Thomas – Apollo High School
Bayley Ranes – Webster County High School

The Charles A. Reid $10,000 Scholarship went to Jonathan Oldham from Madisonville North Hopkins.

The Ernie & Martine Davis $3,000 Scholarship winner was William Thomas from Apollo High School. The recipients of the eight Ernie & Martine Davis $500 Scholarships were: Gabriella Cipolla, Cain Cooper, Laura Hunter, Ashley Miller, Janzten Sparks, Brittany Stone, Alexander Story and Bayley Ranes.

Brittany Burress of Murray High School and Destiny Wendling of Calloway County High School each received a $1,000 Calloway County community board scholarship.

Five students from Murray High School each received a $1,000 Independence Bank Kick for Cash Scholarship based on a successful field goal attempt last fall. They were: Paxton James, Adam Stubblefield, Preston Merriss, Carver Lawson and Adam Clark.

Sarah Smith and Natalie Stewart, both of Apollo High School each received a $3,000 Daviess County community board scholarship.

Corbin Cunningham of Hancock County High School was the recipient of the Hancock community board $1,500 scholarship.

Cain Cooper of Henderson County High School was the recipient of the Henderson community board $2,500 scholarship.

Julia Borders of Madisonville North Hopkins High School was the recipient of the Hopkins County community board $1,000 scholarship.

Lilly Burba of Paducah Tilghman High School received $1,500 and Alexandria Montgomery of McCracken High School received a $1,000 McCracken County community board scholarship.

Taylor Higgs and Lacy Rojewski of McLean County High School each received a $500 McLean County community board scholarship. Kaylee Ranburger, also of McLean County High School received a $1,000 McLean County community board scholarship.

Deborah Young of Warren East High School was presented the $3,250 Warren County community board scholarship.

Baylee Van Winkle of Webster County High School received the $500 scholarship and Sarah Steely of Webster County High School received the $1,000 scholarship on behalf of the Webster County community board.

Kaitlyn Neal of Webster County High School received the $1,000 Tommy & Bonita Chandler Scholarship.

Jessica Murch of Henderson County High School was the winner of the $5,000 Independence Bank Agriculture scholarship. This scholarship was intended for a student from an agriculture background pursuing an agricultural degree.

Finalist Janzten Sparks of Murray High School was awarded the $5,000 Independence Bank Chairman’s Scholarship.

Whitney Galloway of Owensboro High School was awarded the Marjorie Reid $10,000 scholarship that is for a child or grandchild of an Independence Bank employee or director.

New this year was the $10,000 Maurice E. Reisz Memorial Scholarship that was awarded to Hannah Turner of Warren East High School. Mr. Reisz was a co-founder of Independence Bank and served as Chairman of the Independence Bank board. He was also a local pharmacist in Daviess County. The Maurice E. Reisz Memorial Scholarship was for a student pursuing a pharmacy degree.

Also handed out for the first time, was the Guy Reisz Memorial $10,000 Scholarship which was awarded to Patrick Ruby of Daviess County High School. Guy Reisz served on the Independence Bank board of directors. The Guy Reisz Memorial Scholarship was intended for a student attending Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro.

The Independence Bank Scholarship Program is designed to encourage high school seniors in the Bank’s nine county service areas of Calloway, Daviess, Hancock, Henderson, Hopkins, McLean, McCracken, Warren and Webster counties, to continue their education. Applicants were judged on high school grades, ACT/SAT scores, essays and personal interviews. Since 2001, Independence Bank has awarded $486,050 in college scholarships to area high school seniors.