Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

FRANKFORT — Eight 2021 high school graduates from Harlan County have been named Senator Jeff Green Scholars by the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA). To earn this honor, a student must achieve a 4.0 grade point average each year of high school and score at least a 28 composite on the ACT.

“My administration will always put education first, and that’s why we’re so proud to celebrate these students for their hard work in the classroom the past four years,” Gov. Andy Beshear said. “This is especially true for the 2021 graduates, who earned this honor while spending much of their last two years of high school under new and often challenging learning conditions because of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Students earning this honor were:

• Harlan County High School: Kiki Dean, Edmund Dye, Hailey Madden, Jacob Owens, Brett Roark.
• Harlan High School: Shane Lindsey, Emma Rich, Sarah Vaughn.

These students have also earned Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship (KEES) awards, which they can use to continue their education beyond high school. They are eligible for $2,500 per year in KEES funds for up to four years of postsecondary education.

This designation is named in honor of the late State Senator Jeff Green of Mayfield, who served in the Kentucky General Assembly from 1992 to 1997.

KEES and other Kentucky student aid programs are administered by KHEAA. KEES awards are funded by net Kentucky lottery proceeds and may be used at most colleges and universities in Kentucky. In some cases, the award may be used at an out-of-state school if the major the student is pursuing is unavailable in Kentucky. No application is necessary for KEES awards.

For more information about Kentucky scholarships and grants, visit kheaa.com; write KHEAA, P.O. Box 798, Frankfort, KY 40602; or call 800-928-8926, ext. 6-7214.

KHEAA also disburses low-cost Advantage Education Loans, the state’s only nonprofit private education loan. For more information, visit advantageeducationloan.com.