Nearly 400 Knoxville-area high school students were awarded this year's Tennessee Scholar designation for successfully completing rigorous high school requirements.
The benchmarks for attaining this award include completing specific advanced high school course work, maintaining a 2.5 GPA, pass Gateway Exams, completing 20 hours of community service, not having out-of-school suspension, and have 95 percent school attendance.
Grant Rosenberg, from the Knox County Mayor's office, was the emcee at the event, held May 1 at Pellissippi State Technical Community College.
Rosenberg said that the students who completed the program were on-track to become the type of "high-performance employee" that the Knoxville business community is searching for. Workforce development is a priority for the Knoxville Chamber.
Jayson Swain, a former University of Tennessee football player, was the keynote speaker at the award ceremony. He compared the students' journey to compete the Tennessee Scholars program to former NFL Giant George Martin's walk across America.
Martin walked across the United States for four months to earn $10 million to benefit sick 9/11 rescue and recovery workers.
Swain compared the students' journeys to Martin's journey in that they both took perseverance, battling the temptation to quit, changing associations to those that will benefit the journey, and maintaining focus.
He said that, like Martin, the students had to ensure that every step in their high school career was towards the destination of completing the program.
Swain "challenged all of the Scholars to keep walking and make sure every step is forward in their personal life." He said that relationships with their family, friends, community and religion would be key in their lives. Swain said that the students now had a responsibility to continue the hard work.
Door prizes for the event included three laptops, courtesy of Energy Solutions; Pilot gas cards; tickets to Regal Cinemas; iPod Shuffle, courtesy of Lincoln Memorial University; Rush Fitness Center memberships; Suntan City tanning passes; tickets to the Knoxville Ice Bears games; and $100 Best Buy gift certificate, courtesy of the National College of Business Technology.
Click here to view the complete list of 2008 Tennessee Scholars.
