East Bladen High School valedictorian Luke Thomas Barber was awarded the 2023 Trooper Kevin Conner Spirit of Community and Leadership scholarship for Bladen County, it was announced Tuesday.
East Columbus High School graduate Andrew Caines received the $5,000 scholarship for Columbus County.
The scholarships are offered in memory of the late Master Trooper Kevin Conner, who was killed in the line of duty on October 17th, 2018. Conner was raised in Bladenboro and worked in Columbus County. The Trooper Kevin Conner Memorial Foundation was established in 2019 to give back and serve the communities that Conner loved and served. Click here for more information about the organization.
Barber (pictured above) also is a recent graduate of Bladen Community College, a 4-H Honor Club inductee, member of FFA, Senior Beta Club, and National Technical Honor Society. He plans to attend N.C. State University in the fall to pursue a degree in Poultry Science.
Caines was a member of FFA, National Honors Society, Beta Club, and golf team at East Columbus. He was in the top 10% of his class, an Eagle Scout, and owns his own auto detailing/landscaping/pressure washing business. He plans to attend East Carolina University in the fall to major in Biology with hopes of becoming an orthodontist.
Other scholarship finalists were:
• Catherine Dowless, graduate of West Bladen High School, plans to attend Methodist University
• Emily Miranda Young, graduate of West Bladen High School, plans to attend UNC Pembroke
• Addie Bailey, graduate of Whiteville High School, plans to attend N.C. State University
• Laiken Edwards, graduate of Whiteville High School, plans to attend N.C. State University
Scholarship applications were evaluated by a committee in a preliminary round in which no names were revealed. Three applicants from both Bladen and Columbus Counties with the highest preliminary scores were subsequently invited to participate in an interview with the scholarship committee.
Two students were awarded the inaugural Trooper Kevin Conner Blue Line Legacy Scholarship in the amount of $1,500 each.
They were Connor Chinnici, who is a graduate of Western Alamance High School and plans to attend UNC Chapel Hill in the fall to major in Biology, and Emilie Councilman, who is a recent graduate of South Granville High School and plans to pursue a degree in Nursing at Vance-Granville Community College.
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