WKU-O scholarship winners thankful for Badgett Foundation | News

For Emilee Basham, scholarship support from the Badgett Family Foundation means she can graduate from Western Kentucky University “without a cloud of debt over my head.”

Basham, a 2006 Hancock County High School graduate and middle grades math education major at WKU’s Owensboro campus, said too many students fall behind right after graduation because they have too many student loans. The scholarship for Hancock County High grads “sets us up for success” by easing that burden, she said.

Daniel White, a senior at WKU-O, said the scholarship means he can go to school.

“It means everything to me,” the 2001 Hancock County High grad said. With a wife and two children, White said he could not afford to take out loans to pay for his bachelor’s degree and reach his goal of becoming a drug abuse counselor.

In recognition of the Badgett Foundation’s support, the conference room at WKU-O has been named the Badgett Foundation Conference Center. Director Gene Tice announced the first room naming opportunity at WKU-O during a reception Thursday.

“We are really proud to do it,” he said.

The Badgett Scholarships were created in 2010 to assist graduates of Hancock County High School and teachers in the Hancock County School System pursuing a master’s degree. A similar program assists students at Owensboro Community and Technical College.

Undergraduate students must be Hancock County High School graduates and can be full- or part-time students at WKU-O. They must maintain a college grade point average of at least 2.0. Awards are based on tuition.

Graduate students must be currently teaching in Hancock County and working on a master’s degree in teacher education. Graduate awards are $1,000 per semester up to $3,000 a year.

In both awards, financial need is to be the most important consideration. Recipients are to have the personal qualities of character, integrity, dependability, industriousness and human compassion which produce leaders.

Foundation President Bentley Badgett, nephew of founder J. Rogers Badgett Sr., said his uncle was a working man’s man and understands that “education gives you a step up in today’s world.”

He told the scholarship recipients that he could offer only three words of advice: “go to class.”

The Badgett family’s ties to Hancock County, including Bentley Badgett’s leadership position at Hancock County Bank and Trust, make the scholarship more meaningful to Basham and White.

“In Hancock County, everybody knows the Badgett name and that they care enough to offer this scholarship means a lot to me,” Basham said.

And she hopes to stay in Hancock County when she graduates. “That’s my number one place to teach,” she said.

While Thursday was the first time White had met Bentley Badgett, he’s been friends with other family members.

“Knowing the family is really cool,” he said. “It really means a lot.”

Undergraduate recipients for the summer and fall 2011 and spring 2012 semesters are: Emilee Basham, Brad Beatty, Tim Case, Toni Ebling, Ryan Ferguson, Logan Griffin, Dianna Haney, Mary Jackson, Sarah Long, Tyler Magan, Jamie Morris, Rebecca Morris, Karen Payne, Trevor Pierrard, Johnny Roberts, Alysha Smith, Sondra Swihart, Gave VanCappellen and Daniel White.

Graduate recipients are: Heather Bowlds of Owensboro, Ashley Elder of Lewisport, Kaylie Fullenwider of Lewisport, Tina Ostria of Owensboro, Teresa Perkins of Lewisport, Bryan Robinson of Hawesville and Theresa Simpson of Hawesville.