The Paris Optimist Club awarded nine graduating baseball players with $1,000 scholarships to help them in their endeavor for higher education.
“The Paris Optimist Foundation is very pleased to be able to award past Paris Optimist baseball players with these scholarships,” said Paris Optimist Foundation Chair Bill Sanders. “We thank the sponsors and attendees of our annual Baseball Bash and Auction that help us raise funds for our youth programs. We’re proud to be able to give back to the community with these scholarships.”
The Ed Thomas Memorial scholarship winners are:
Kadyn McDonald-Hildreth – Kadyn is graduating from Paris High School and will be pursuing a degree in technological engineering this fall. His long-term plans include starting his own company specializing in product design & development and systems development.
Aidan Rhea – Aidan is graduating from Chisum High School and will be attending Paris Junior College in the fall and continuing his education at Texas A&M – Commerce, majoring in engineering.
Korbyn Vaughn – Korbyn is graduating from Paris High School and will be attending the University of North Texas in the fall where he will pursue his degree in Political Science with a minor in business. He plans to continue his education at the University of Texas Law School.
Paris Optimist Foundation scholarship winners are:
Carter Benson – Carter is graduating from Paris High School and will be attending Texas A&M University in the fall where he will be majoring in Civil Engineering. He hopes to return to Paris and use his degree to improve and strengthen local infrastructure.
Cason Blease (not pictured) – Cason is graduating from North Lamar High School and will be attending the University of Arkansas-Rich Mountain in the fall. He plans to become a physical therapist with a focus on sports medicine.
Gibson Dyess – Gibson is graduating from North Lamar High School and will be attending Southern Arkansas University in the fall where he will be majoring in Biology/Pre-Health. He plans to become a physician’s assistant.
Brody Holleman – Brody is graduating from Paris High School and will be attending University of Arkansas in the fall where he will be majoring in Computer Science. He would like to work for a large tech company.
Ty Hostetler – Ty is graduating from Prairiland High School and will be attending Oklahoma State University where he will major in Biology in the Pre-Med track. He plans to become an emergency medicine physician.
Patrick Roland – Patrick is graduating from Paris High School and will be attending Texas A&M University in the fall where he will study Applied Mathematics and Business. He hopes to become an actuary and eventually have his own business.
Paris Optimist Executive Director Sabra Vaughan said, “The very best part of my job is seeing the positive impact our program and organization has on the youth of our community whether it’s seeing the smiling faces of excited baseball players or, in this case, the joy in being able to help our past players with their expenses for college.”
Paris Optimist Club: The mission of the Paris Optimist Club is to bring out the best in youth. Our youth baseball program is one way we meet this mission. Each year, the Paris Optimist Foundation hosts our baseball bash and auction, which is our major event where we raise funds for maintaining and improving this ballpark facility. In addition to that, a portion of the funds raised are used to provide scholarships to deserving graduating Lamar County seniors who played baseball here in our local league.
