Nineteen area high school and college students received scholarships from the Home Builders Association of Midwest Georgia and the Home Builders Association of Georgia during an awards banquet hosted by the Coweta-Fayette EMC at its Palmetto headquarters recently.

Chick-fil-A founder Truitt Cathy spoke to the assembled students, parents and building professionals, praising them for their recognition of the value of education and hard work in achieving success in life. Georgia State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox, a former teacher in the Fayette County school system and the wife of John Cox, a regional builder and treasurer of the Home Builders Association of Midwest Georgia, also attended the awards ceremony.

Winners of the HBA of Midwest Georgia scholarships for the 2007-2008 school year were: Joseph Babb and Stephen Nicoli of East Coweta High School; Autumn Whittington of Fayette County High School; Samantha Sandlin, Alexander Stephens and Joshua Ramsey of Griffin High School; Ryan Morton of McIntosh High School; Austin McKinney, Jenna Lewis, and Jarred Jackson of Newnan High School; Domenic Innocenti of Northgate High School; Jillian Turner of Sandy Creek High School and Cassie Carroll of Spalding High School.

Initiated in 1984, the scholarship program is funded by the association’s Scholarship House project and has awarded 217 scholarships worth $280,160.

The Jerry Ballard Memorial Scholarship, named for a respected builder and community leader who died in January, 2005, was added that same year and goes to students actively pursuing an education in the construction industry. Since its inception, the scholarship fund has awarded $4,000 to area students. This year’s Jerry Ballard Memorial Scholarship winners were Larry Puckett and Ronald Driskell, both studying at Griffin Technical College; and Ryan Hutchison, studying at Auburn University.

The Home Builders Association of Georgia awards Lewis Cenker Scholarships every year to Georgia college students who are pursuing an education in a building-related field of study. Named for a Georgian who was a founding member of the Home Builders Association of Georgia and the only Georgian ever to serve as a president of the national HBA, the scholarships are allotted on a regional basis. This year’s winners for the HBA of Midwest Georgia region are Reece Brown, Southern Polytechnic University; Ryan Hutchison, Auburn University, and Austin McKinney, who will attend Auburn. All three students are previous winners of HBA of Midwest Georgia, Lewis Cenker or HBA of Georgia scholarships in past years.

With over 800 members, the Home Builders Association of Midwest Georgia is one of the 100 largest home building associations in the country. It serves builders in Fayette, Coweta, Spalding, Meriwether, Heard, Pike, Upson, Lamar, Butts and Jasper counties. More information about the group may be obtained by calling Sandy Boda, executive officer at 770-716-7109.

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