Leticia Francisco and Drake Livingston
For the 24th year, the Bill and Ardis Evans award was presented to Ottumwa sixth grade students. This year’s recipients are Leticia Francisco and Drake Livingston.
Since 1989, $277,000 in Evans Scholarships has been awarded to 48 students. These scholarships were established at the Indian Hills Community College Foundation by the Evans, who combined to spend 51 years working with elementary school children. The couple believed that offering these scholarships to sixth graders gives young people the incentive to improve or maintain their grades and be good citizens. The scholarship recipients are nominated and selected based on their academic achievement, character, attendance and extracurricular activities.
One boy and one girl each year are nominated from each dyad in the sixth grade at Evans Middle School. The Indian Hills Community College Foundation Scholarship Committee then selects the winners. Under the scholarship guidelines, the recipients must complete their first two years of post-secondary education at Indian Hills before transferring to a four-year college or university.
Francisco and Livingston were awarded $1,000 college scholarships at their end-of-the-year school assembly on June 6. They will earn an additional $1,000 each year through their senior year in high school provided they meet specified criteria. Therefore, the two could each accrue $7,000 towards their college education by the time they graduate from high school.
Francisco, the daughter of Eulalia Pascual, attended Wilson Elementary School. She is involved in band, choir, and church activities and enjoys soccer, volleyball, science and social studies. Livingston, the son of Doug and Teresa Livingston, attended Eisenhower Elementary. He is active in student council, math club, TAG, young writers, and safety patrol and enjoys playing sports, fishing, hiking, being an altar server, and attending the YMCA.