BY ANNA HERKAMP
DANVILLE — Three of this spring’s Danville High School graduates are the recipients of a new scholarship for the DHS Jobs for Illinois Graduates program.
Their benefactors are Bill T. Fulton, owner of Terminix and his uncle, Bill E. Fulton. The scholar-ship gives them $1,000 per year for four years of college.
The grads — Alex Bates, Sha’Donna Beard and Evony Jackson — say the money could not have come at a better time.
Bates will attend Illinois Wesleyan University in the fall, and the scholarship money will help with the remaining $10,000 he had to pay for this year’s tuition.
The college’s tuition, boarding and fees run about $38,000 per year.
“I had quite a bit left,” he said.
Bates has received several merit-based scholarships, as well as some financial aid.
Bates chose the college because he can continue playing football while getting a quality education. He will spend his summer working at Monical’s Pizza in Tilton and preparing for football season.
Beard has been accepted at a few schools, but is awaiting word on a basketball scholarship.
“So every little bit helps,” she said.
She recently played for coaches at Southern Illinois University, where the college had some basketball scholarship money available. In the meantime, she’s working at Wendy’s and Country Market.
Jackson also works at Wendy’s and has been accepted to Southern, where she will study accounting and music performance.
Part of the reason the three students received the help is because of their dedication to the JILG class, taught by B.J. Luke.
Luke said the students exhibit leadership qualities and are good candidates for tomorrow’s Danville leaders.
Jackson would like to come back to her hometown and create a tax service for low-income families.
“I didn’t get a lot of scholarships,” Jackson said, adding the JILG money is more than the others she received put together.
Beard wants to be an elementary school teacher in Danville.
Bates would like to study international business. One day, he would like to come back to Danville and work in business.
“My career will take me elsewhere, but I know I’ll be able to call my own shots when I want to make those decisions,” Bates said.
The Fultons believe the graduates represent what Danville needs.
“We want them to come back to Danville,” Bill T. Fulton said.
The Fultons said the graduates, who’ve overcome some obstacles in their educational paths, are examples of the kids they’d like to help.
Bill E. Fulton has provided scholarship money for local students for the last decade or so, but after seeing a Commercial-News story about Jackson in December, he wanted to encourage students in the JILG program.
The students learned job-preparedness skills, such as networking and resume-building. The class focuses on career exploration for students who might not have thought of college as an option.
The Fultons were impressed with the students’ application packages, which they said are better than many professional job applications they process.
“We figured they were all winners, and we’d like to help,” Bill E. Fulton said.
Bill E. Fulton is the former owner of Terminix. He and his wife, Ellen, provided the scholarship money for Jackson and Beard.
Bill T. Fulton provided Bates’s scholarship through the company.
