Area students named Toyota scholarship winners

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – Partners for Youth and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky Inc. awarded 11 scholarships to 2020-21 high school seniors during a Nov. 5 virtual reception, including eight from Fayette County Public Schools.

Nina Bradley of Lafayette High School received the $1,500 A.J. Newcomb Scholarship, named for a 2000 recipient from Lafayette who died of heart transplant complications soon after his 2001 graduation.

The $1,000 scholarship winners included Blandy Balderas, Danixia Castro Monjarrez, and Juan Pascual of Lafayette; Antyana Cowan and Valeria Muñoz of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School; Ketia Mpovila Mbiyavanga of Opportunity Middle College; and Tyler Rigsby of Tates Creek High School.

The students were selected after a series of applications and interviews, when they were asked what advice they would offer to help younger peers develop skills to promote successful behavior and cope with problems.

They were also asked their plans upon graduation. The scholarships can be used for college, trade, technical school, or for the purchase of textbooks.

To be eligible, a student must be associated with one of the grassroots programs supported by Partners for Youth. Thanks to Toyota, which has provided funding since 1998, Partners for Youth has now awarded 227 scholarships.