YANKTON – In a continuing effort to retain our best and brightest students, First National Bank and the South Dakota Bankers Foundation have announced the 17th year of the high school scholarship program. Participating South Dakota banks have agreed to match Foundation funds to provide scholarships to graduating high school seniors in their local communities.
The recipients will all attend post-secondary South Dakota institutions of higher learning, and one of this year’s recipients of the $1,000 scholarship sponsored by First National Bank is Destiny Brick of Woonsocket, announced Jeff Jones, Market President, First National Bank. Brick plans to attend the University of South Dakota and major in Biology.
Established in 1982, the South Dakota Bankers Foundation was endowed by the South Dakota Bankers Association to provide scholarships, and special educational programs and awards to the secondary and post-secondary levels. In 2000, the industry took action to refocus its mission to provide an opportunity for even more visible consumer programming, including the expansion of the high school scholarship program. With the demand exceeding the available funds, a three-year fundraising campaign, led by current Foundation Chair and former SD Secretary of State, Joyce Hazeltine, raised more than $900,000.