Washington Counties Scholarship Fund Awards 2021 Scholarships
The Washington Association of County Officials is honored to award three outstanding and hardworking students with scholarships form the Washington Counties Scholarship Fund.
"We are very excited to see high achieving individuals from geographically different parts of the state win this year," says Washington Association of County Officials Executive Director Jennifer Wallace, "It is a testament to the hard work and ambition of students throughout the state. It is a challenging time for young adults pursuing higher education. WACO is proud of the continued scholarship funding provided by our members in support of these students’ bright futures!”
The 2021 scholarship competition was the second under the new eligibility requirements, and the first to be conducted entirely during Covid-19 restrictions. This year WACO converted physical applications to PDFs for review. This allowed for remote participation by reviewers, and decreased in person contact to hand off materials.
The scholarship had 32 eligible applicants representing families working in each of WACO’s membership offices. We are pleased to announce that there were several VERY qualified applicants, however the committee was able to select three outstanding individuals for this year's awards.
Emily Adams is a graduate of Shelton High School. Her father is Travis Adams who works for the Mason County Sheriff’s Office. While in high school, Emily was the Junior Varsity Soccer Captain, a Freshman Ambassador and was awarded the Most Outstanding Singer award for the school choir. Upon graduation, Emily plans on attending South Puget Sound Community College to finish a AA transfer degree for future education opportunities to pursue a career in education.
Austin Williams is a graduate of Goldendale High School. His mother, Ashley Williams, is the Deputy Clerk in Klickitat County. While in high school, Austin participated in many clubs and activities like Cross Country, The Boy Scouts, and Link Crew. Austin plans to attend Washington State University to study mathematics.
Teleah Royal gradated Garfield Highschool and is attending Bethune-Cookman University to study social justice. Teleah’s mother is Tereasa Love-Royal and is an employee of King County Department of Judicial Administration (Clerks Office). Teleah has extensive volunteer experience, and recently volunteered at the Talbot Nursing home. Teleah has a desire to use her skills, compassion and love of people to advocate for oppressed groups in society.
The Washington Counties Scholarship Fund was established to provide scholarship assistance to the children of county employees in the State of Washington. Since 1993 the fund has awarded over $294,000 to eligible students. In 2015 the Washington State Association of Counties indicated they would no longer be contributing to the Washington Counties Scholarship Fund and ceasing participation.
On December 2, 2020 the Washington Association of County Officials Board of Trustees voted to again offer three students a scholarship award of $3,000 while reaffirming the annual $1,500 per affiliate fundraising goal.