Due to the rising cost of college tuition, some productive high school students who aspire to attend college or trade school may have been dissuaded due to financial barriers. More than half, or 56%, of college students say they can no longer afford their tuition, according to a survey by OneClass.
Lloyd Memorial High School sophomore Destiny Owen, 16, personally knew students who went through this. She spoke with families and community members who’ve faced this dilemma.
She wanted to do something to help.
Her parents, Larry and Serena Owen, own Community Heroes Inc., a local nonprofit organization that supports and recognizes local community leaders who go above and beyond the call of duty. They worked with Destiny to help celebrate the Cincinnati Bengals Super Bowl run by sponsoring a Bengals-inspired scholarship for high school and college students who volunteer at their school and/or community.
The Owen family stays active in their communities of Elsmere and Northern Kentucky by mentoring, organizing food distributions, tutoring, advocating for healthcare and supporting education and student safety. It’s been a longtime dream of the Owen family to sponsor scholarships for students through their Community Heroes foundation.
Lloyd Memorial High School Seniors Braxton Irwin and Carlos Esquival were awarded the Community Heroes’ scholarship recipients of the Bengals Super Bowl Service Scholarship. Irwin and Esquival served in their school, with homeless veterans, and senior citizens at a nursing home in Erlanger. Both students received a call on Super Bowl Sunday informing them they won the scholarship.
“Thanks, we are excited to receive the scholarship, because the scholarship will definitely help us, and we are huge Bengals fans,” Irwin said.
Both Irwin and Esquival played football at Lloyd and are committed to play for Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky.
Bengals Super Bowl Service Scholarship recipient DeMontez Taylor is a student at Northern Kentucky University. He works for Covington Independent. Schools’ Glenn O. Swing Elementary School as an Instructional Assistant and helps with the after-school program.
Karissa Storey, a teacher at Glenn O. Swing, had this to say about her nominee.
“DeMontez is an integral part of the Glenn O. Swing team. DeMontez helps our students complete their work, gives them support and instills confidence when they’re struggling, and makes sure that every child is successful and reaches the highest expectations set forth by our teachers,” Storey said. “In addition to his work during the school day, DeMontez comes in early to greet students at the school door. DeMontez welcomes every student with a warm, genuine smile, and makes sure every child who enters our doors feels at home. Mr. Taylor is hardworking and is truly deserving of the Cincinnati Bengals Super Bowl Scholarship.”
Taylor elected to use his scholarship money towards classes at NKU this summer.
Each scholarship recipient received a $1,000 scholarship to the school of their choice, a Mastercard Gift Card just for them, a bag of Cincinnati Bengals paraphernalia, and a ‘thank you’ gift to give their nominator.
“We’ve wanted to sponsor student scholarships for a long time and I’m glad we have this opportunity to help students and celebrate our Cincinnati Bengals with our Community Heroes Bengals Super Bowl Service Scholarship,” Community Heroes Inc. founder Serena Owen said. “We’re proud of our scholarship recipients and our Cincinnati Bengals for being positive role models by serving in their school and community. We’re excited to support them and be a part of their success!”
