SGB presents scholarship to Tifton student

TIFTON — Chase Beckham of Tifton is the 2020 local winner of the $500 Julian & Jan Hester Memorial Scholarship from South Georgia Banking Company.

Beckham was chosen by a regional panel of judges for his impressive academic performance at Tift County High School as well as his long list of extracurricular activities within the community including volunteering at local events such as Special Olympics and Mims Kids Back-to-School events.

 He has mentored youth through the Watch Dogs Program, coached a basketball team of 12- and 13-year-olds and served on six mission trips, traveling both domestically and internationally.

Looking ahead, Beckham, dual-enrolled at ABAC, will attend Georgia Southern University in the fall. Beckham will go on to compete for one of the four Hester Memorial $1,000 scholarships chosen by the Community Bankers Association (CBA).

The Julian & Jan Hester Memorial Scholarship program awards $1,000 annually to four deserving high school seniors planning to attend a Georgia college, university or technical school beginning the fall semester after graduation from high school.

Bethany Barron of Vienna, the runner up, is also a candidate for the CBA scholarship award. Barron, the valedictorian of Fullington Academy’s 2020 senior class, maintained an impressive grade point average while dual-enrolled at Brewton-Parker College. Barron’s excellent academic record and extracurricular activities, some of which include Varsity Cheerleading,

Beta Club and Future Educators of Georgia, Literary and Fellowship of Christian Athletes, contributed to her being chosen to compete for this scholarship. Barron will continue her education at Georgia College in the fall.

The Julian & Jan Hester Memorial Scholarship is named after long-time CBA Chief Executive Officer, the late Julian Hester and his late daughter, Jan Hester.

Jan was a senior at the University of Georgia when she died in an automobile accident in April of 1990. In addition to supporting community banking, this scholarship is an opportunity to pass on the positive qualities both Julian and Jan Hester exemplified to further the development of tomorrow’s generations.