Honoring local graduates; planting seeds for the future

The Faulkner County community often shows quite a bit of pride in its students, whether it's through scholarships, achievement awards or the simple recognition of a job well done.

The 30th annual Faulkner County Scholastic Achievement Banquet took place on the University of Central Arkansas campus Tuesday and Johnny Adams, president and CEO of First Security Bank, said he is proud to have had a hand in honoring students for their academic performances.

The banquet, sponsored by First Security and the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce, celebrated the 246 honor graduates who are completing their final days in Faulkner County's high schools.

"These kids have invested a lot of time, effort and energy into those grade point averages and I think it's great to give them that additional recognition from the community," Adams said Wednesday. "And it's also important to recognize them because that group will be the source of a lot of future leadership."

First Security has sponsored the banquet for the past 10 years, according to Adams, but it was originally the chamber's project.

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"This year we did go back and sponsor it with the chamber because we felt like it really belonged there, especially with the Get Smart initiative and the chamber's new logo," Adams said. "It really fit in with what the banquet is all about."

This year's Scholastic Achievement Banquet was not only a way to celebrate the success of the county's brightest students, but to also recognize and congratulate the 15 high school seniors who received Toad Suck Daze scholarships, Adams said.

The Toad Suck Daze committee provided $61,500 in scholarships this year and has given $530,000 over the past 25 years, according to Rhonda Overbey, the committee chairman of this year's festival.

To be sure the tradition of academic excellence continues in Faulkner County, the festival committee kicked off the Toad Suck Get Smart Scholarship Challenge this year. Overbey said the committee presented a $300,000 scholarship endowment to the Community Foundation of Faulkner County, pledged to add $250,000 to that total by 2012 and challenged the community to match that amount.

If those goals are met over the next four years, Overbey said combined with the funds already endowed at the three local colleges, there will be $1 million endowed for scholarships, which is above and beyond the scholarships provided to students each year.

"As much fun as Toad Suck Daze is for the whole family, it never really got the recognition it deserves for its contribution to education until we set up this challenge," Overbey said.

Adams said not many communities have that kind of endowment available to its students and added it is a great reason for the community to join together and rise to the challenge.

"We think Conway's pretty much founded on education and the ability of the city leaders to connect with Hendrix, UCA and CBC has really created a different feel for our community," Adams said. "Education enriches the community and in a really positive way, and we feel like that alone gives us a great reason to continue that tradition. Toad Suck was created for the giving of scholarships and this endowment is just a way to ensure that continues."

Adams said this endowment challenge also gives the community the chance to personally contribute to providing a quality education for Faulkner County youth without having to choose to contribute to a particular institution.

(Staff writer Jessica Bauer can be reached by e-mail at jessica.bauer@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1236. To comment on this and other stories in the Log Cabin, log on to www.thecabin.net. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)