Scholarship Opportunity – Calling All High School Seniors in Clarke and Wilcox Counties!
Are you a graduating high school senior in Clarke or Wilcox County? Are you planning to attend a two-year or 4-year college in the fall? If so, we invite you to apply for one of the seven $1,000 scholarships we offer to deserving students each year.
As a family law firm rooted in our community for more than six decades, it is important to us to support the education of young people where we live and work. Paying for college has become a huge burden for many students and their families as costs have skyrocketed in recent years. We launched our scholarship program in 2018 and look forward to awarding them each year.
Scholarship Topic
In the day-to-day practice of law, we see many clients who have been injured or killed in car accidents. Often, distracted driving is a factor in the cause of the accident. We chose this topic for the creative entry portion of the application because we want to encourage young people to stop and think about the dangers of distracted driving.
Here are some facts from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), about distracted driving that should give everyone pause:
- Five distracted seconds at a speed of 55 mph is the same as driving an entire length of a football field with your eyes shut.
- Texting while driving is a factor in 13% of the distracted driving accidents that resulted in fatalities.
- Texting while driving is a factor in 9% of distracted driving injury crashes or about 29,999 accidents in total.
- Texting while driving is a factor in 9% of all police-reported distraction-affected crashes or about 50,098 accidents in total.
Additionally, NHTSA reports the following statistics related to deaths from distracted driving:
- In 2020, 396 people in total were killed as a direct result of accidents caused by texting and driving. That amounts to more than one death per day.
- In 2019, 430 people were killed in fatal crashes caused by texting and driving.
- In 2019, there were also 566 people not in cars (pedestrians, bicyclists and others) killed in crashes involving a distracted driver, including those who were texting.
While some accidents are not preventable, driving while distracted is easily avoidable. We are interested in seeing the creative ways students present their ideas on reducing or eliminating distracted driving, especially among young people. Winners’ entries will be distributed to leaders throughout southwest Alabama.
Criteria for Selecting Scholarship Winners
The selection of recipients is based on the following:
- Creative entry (see below for details)
- School activities
- Positions of leadership
- Special honors and awards
- Community involvement
- Academic performance
- Professional pursuits
- Minimum GPA of 2.5
Creative Entry
Applicants must submit a creative entry regarding how to reduce or eliminate injuries from automobile crashes involving distracted driving. Entries may include, but are not limited to:
- Essays
- Poems
- Paintings
- Posters
- Videos
- Audio recordings
- Web pages
- Or other creative entry.
The more creative, the better. Essays should be limited to 500 words (no minimum word count required). Video/audio recordings should be limited to two minutes. All creative entries must be uploaded along with the rest of your application. Entries will not be returned to the applicant.
How to Apply for the Scholarship
Application Dates:
Applications Open: 2/10/23
Deadline to submit Applications: 4/14/23
Please submit the following materials along with a scholarship packet or online application form:
- A current high school transcript with a minimum 2.5 GPA
- A personal photograph
- One teacher or counselor recommendation (can be submitted via e-mail)
- Creative entry
Please submit to:
Edwin Lamberth
scholarship@gilmorelawfirm.com
116 Court Street
P.O. Box 729
Grove Hill, Alabama 36451
251-275-3115
HOW TO WIN
Our selection committee will review your packet with a particular focus on your creative entry along with your community involvement. We may publish the winners and the winning creative entries and disseminate them to leaders throughout southwest Alabama. Each scholarship recipient will be notified at your respective school’s year-end awards ceremony. If your school does not have such a ceremony, we will notify the scholarship winners no later than June 15, 2023. Applicants do not have to have been accepted to a two or four-year school at the time of the application. However, payment will be made directly to the institution you will be attending in the fall.
We look forward to reviewing your application and wish you success in all your future endeavors. Please feel free to email us with any questions or concerns at: scholarship@gilmorelawfirm.com.
