Junior Sabrina Moxley and senior Amy Safsten have been recognized by the Carson Scholars Program. Safsten has received this honor all four years of high school and Moxley received the honor for the first time.

The Carson Scholars scholarship program awards students who have embraced high levels of academic excellence and community service with a $1,000 college scholarship.

Ben Carson, the founder of the program, grew up in a troubled and unstable environment. His mother started encouraging him and his brother to read more often to better their education. Eventually Carson went from dead last to the top of his class, attending Johns Hopkins and Yale. Carson wanted other kids to have the same opportunity to succeed as he did.

The scholarship can be awarded to any student enrolled in grades 4-11.  The student must have a GPA of 3.75 or higher on a 4.0 scale in the following academic subjects:  English, Math, Science, Social Studies and Foreign Languages. He or she must also demonstrate humanitarian qualities in school and community, above and beyond what is required.

First-time Carson Scholars receive a $1,000 scholarship to be applied toward the scholar’s college education, along with a medal, a certificate, a trophy nameplate for his or her school, and an invitation to an awards banquet. Carson Scholars can then be honored each year after their first honor. This year’s awards banquet was held on Sunday April 19th.

Teachers can nominate students for the Carson Scholars program. Then, Carson Scholar winners are chosen by a panel of judges, made up of teachers, educators, and other community members using a standard set of rules.

This is Amy Safsten’s fourth year receiving this prestigious honor. Safsten maintains a busy schedule with school, extracurricular activities, and community service projects. She is the NHS President, and a member of NEHS, Key Club, SGA, Mu Alpha Theta, and the Spanish Honor Society. Safsten also participates in track, cross country, and the vocal ensemble.

Safsten has gone above and beyond with her extensive community service projects.  She participates in service activities through her church and events here at school through clubs like Key Club and SGA. She has worked as a volunteer instructor at her mother’s summer camp for the last nine years. Safsten was also on the committee for the UMCH Heroes 5K that LHS students organized over the summer.

“I enjoy volunteering because it helps me better recognize everything that I’m blessed to have. There are so many people and organizations that need help. The world would be such a better place if everyone strived to do more and give more of themselves,” said Safsten.

Safsten will attend Brigham Young University in the fall to study education.

First year recipient, Sabrina Moxley, participates in many projects throughout the year. Some of these include volunteering for the local Lions and Rotary clubs, serving dinners for the Libertytown fire hall carnival, helping at nursing homes, and building and repairing houses with her church.

Moxley is a member of the FFA, FCA, Class of 2016, NHS, NEHS, and the science national honor society. She is also on the varsity soccer team.

Moxley says, “My favorite part of participating in service projects is seeing how happy and appreciative people are when you help them with the smallest task. Also, volunteering allows you to try tons of new things that can give you experience in many different areas.”

Since Moxley is only a junior, she hasn’t made final college plans but her experiences with volunteering have given her some ideas of the kind of career she would like to have.