The River Parishes Education Foundation has awarded college scholarships totaling $18,000  to six outstanding students from St. James, St. Charles and St. John parishes. The one-time, $3,000 scholarships are for the 2012-13 academic year and were awarded based on academic achievement, extracurricular activities and community involvement.

Two scholarships were awarded in each of the three parishes, one each for a four-year program of study at any accredited institution of the student’s choice, and for the Process Technology program at South Central Louisiana Technical College – River Parishes Campus in Reserve.

The winners of the scholarships are (by parish):

St. John Parish

Four-Year Scholarship Recipient:

• Dashera Gros – West St. John High School; College choice: LSU (Engineering)

PTEC (South Central Louisiana Technical College)

• Jacob King – East St. John High School

St. James Parish

Four-Year Scholarship Recipient

• Jesse Guidry – Lutcher High School; College choice: Louisiana Tech (Chemical Engineering)

PTEC (South Central Louisiana Technical College)

• Brandon Bourgeois – Lutcher High School

St. Charles Parish

Four-Year Scholarship Recipient

• Lea Trusty – Destrehan High School; College choice: Princeton University (Political Science)

PTEC (South Central Louisiana Technical College)

• Sean Robert – Hahnville High School

The mission of RPEF, a non-profit organization of business, industry, and public education representatives from the River Parishes, is to support and improve public education in the region by providing instructional grants to teachers and postsecondary scholarships to outstanding high school graduates.