West Stokes senior Kari Rice was the grand prize winner, reading her essay to all of the seniors present, both Ridgecrest residents and her fellow high school seniors. - Bill Colvard | The News
Savana Thompson, Reanna Carico, Kari Rice and Jacob Ingles were Ridgecrest's four finalist in its Silver Pens scholarship competition. - Bill Colvard | The News
Seniors of two varieties met at Ridgecrest on Tuesday for a special Silver Pens Scholarship award dinner.
"We look to bridge the gap between our seniors and seniors in high school," said Jennifer Loiacono, Ridgecrest social director.
Silver Pens is a scholarship competition in which interested high school seniors submit essays to be judged by Ridgecrest residents on a topic selected by the residents, bridging the gap between younger and older generations. The 2019 essay topic was "What is your definition of success?"
The four finalists in Ridgecrest's 2019 competition were invited to a dinner in their honor on Tuesday. The four finalists did not know until the awards were presented how they had placed in the top four.
Kari Rice from West Stokes High School won first place and a $1,500 scholarship. Jacob Ingles from West Stokes High School won second place and a scholarship of $1,000. Savana Thompson from Surry Central High School won third place and a scholarship of $750. Reanna Carico from Patrick County High School in Virginia won fourth place and a scholarship of $500.
"We've done this for almost ten years," said Loiacono, noting that residents also organize deadlines and plan the competition and judging process. Letters of recommendation and high school transcripts may factor into the judging decisions.
Silver Pen Writing Competitions span 13 communities owned by Ridgecrest's parent company, Senior Living Communities. Each community accepts entries from schools in a 25-mile radius of the community. In addition to a cash award, four finalists at each community receive a silver pen commemorating their award.
According to Loiacono, her company has awarded $184,000 in scholarship funds in the previous eight years, and 195 students have received awards.
As well as finding out which of the top four awards they had won, the winning seniors had a chance Tuesday to meet the judging seniors and forge a personal relationship. The first place winner, Kari Rice, read her essay to the group.
Reach Bill Colvard at 336-415-4699.
