Sixteen local high school students, along with two schools, were awarded a total of $85,000 in scholarship funds from the Tidewater Builders Association Scholarship Foundation at an awards ceremony on Tuesday, June 2 at Tidewater Builders Association in Chesapeake.

TBA's scholarship program is two-pronged. Ten academic scholarships were awarded based on academic excellence, community service and financial need and awards to six students, plus to two high schools, were presented in the Young Designers' Scholarship Competition.

The following academic scholarship recipients will each receive a $7,500 four-year scholarship:

• Nathan Ayersman, a senior at Northampton High School, Nassawadox on the Eastern Shore, recipient of the Frederick J. Napolitano Scholarship, plans to attend Virginia Tech to pursue his goal of becoming a veterinarian.
• R. Logan Leopold, a senior at Princess Anne High School, Virginia Beach, won the William J. Hearring Memorial Scholarship and plans to major in ecology and conservation biology at Old Dominion University.
• Rachel Lane, a senior at Norfolk Christian Schools, Norfolk, received the Howard M. & Nancye C. Weisberg Scholarship and has an interest in studying international affairs at James Madison University.
• Nilusha Jayasinghe, a senior at Kellam High School, Virginia Beach, recipient of the Lee Gifford Scholarship plans to study pre-med/biology at the University of Virginia to accomplish her goal of becoming a neurosurgeon.
• Earnest Armstrong II, a senior at Lake Taylor High School, Norfolk, won the Sherman & Nancy Reece Scholarship and plans to embark on a civil engineering course of study at St. Augustine's College in North Carolina in the fall.
• Hannah Billings, a senior at Tallwood High School, Virginia Beach, plans to pursue a dental career and study biological sciences at Virginia Tech.
• Thomas "T.J." Kelly, a senior at Arcadia High School, Eastern Shore, plans to attend Old Dominion University in the fall. .
• Rosalie Petrone, a senior at Princess Anne High School, Virginia Beach, plans to pursue her goal of becoming a veterinarian at Virginia Tech.
• Glenn Jodun III, a senior at King's Fork High School, Suffolk, plans to study graphic design at Virginia Commonwealth University.
• Jakya Brooks, a senior at Norview High School, Norfolk, plans to study math at Virginia Commonwealth University.

The TBA scholarship recipients were selected by an 8 member selection committee that spent four weeks reviewing 243 applications.

A talent for design
In a competition befitting a builders association, entrants in the 2009 Young Designers' Scholarship Competition were asked to design and draw homes in one of two categories: hand-drawn or computer-aided design. The criteria for this year's entries was to design a 3,000-square-foot home on a one-acre lot with a water feature. A $1,500 first-place scholarship, $1,000 second-place scholarship and $500 third-place scholarship were awarded in each category. The competition's three judges were local architect and building professionals.

The CAD winners are:

• William Blazer of Landstown High School, Virginia Beach, won the $1,500 first-place award.
• Frank Ambrose of Landstown High School, Virginia Beach, won the $1,000 second-place award.
• Ian Crowell of Western Branch High School, Chesapeake, won the $500 third-place award.

The hand-drawn winners are:

• Rebecca Warren of Lakeland High School, Suffolk, won the $1,500 first-place award.
• Ben Honeycutt of First Colonial High School, Virginia Beach, won the $1,000 second-place award.
• Zach Shipley of Western Branch High School, Chesapeake, won the $500 third-place award.
  

A $3,000 grant went to Landstown High School, Virginia Beach, for having the most entries, and Cox High School, Virginia Beach, won the $1,000 second-place grant for the second-most entries. The grants, which can be used to purchase equipment or supplies for the winning school's drafting/design program, are meant to increase interest in the design competition.

A tradition of giving
Since 1965, the TBA Scholarship Foundation has provided $1.47 million in financial assistance to 395 students. TBA will continue to provide scholarship funding during the 2009-2010 academic year to 30 other past recipients.