Knoxville High School’s senior awards and scholarship night will be held tonight.
The event is an opportunity to honor soon-to-be graduates receiving special recognition and those who have earned scholarships from the Knoxville Panther Scholarship Foundation and Community Scholarship Foundation. Students, family, friends and community members are all welcome to attend this event that will be held at the Knoxville Performing Arts Center, starting with the senior awards at 6:30 pm and the scholarship ceremony to follow at 7:00 pm.
The Knoxville Panther Scholarship Foundation offers scholarships to every Knoxville High School graduate who applies for up to four years of post-secondary education. Financial aid is provided for students attending trade school, working on apprenticeships or associates degrees and for students pursuing a four-year course of study at a college or university. The Knoxville Panther Scholarship Foundation is entering its 23rd year and has provided over $2 million in financial aid to Knoxville High School graduates.
These scholarships are made possible through community donors and volunteers who work with the foundation. Foundation President Michael Moats says the organization is unique in that every single student who applies gets a scholarship.
“You go and look at any other community based scholarship organization and they can’t make that commitment and thanks to the generosity of the Knoxville community and alumni we have the access to the funds to be able to give every kid a scholarship and it’s not just a little $100 scholarship, we’re are giving significance amounts of money to kids. Even the ones that are getting the smaller scholarships are getting at least $500 so it’s significant.”
At this year’s ceremony, there will be 66 graduating seniors receiving scholarships and 70 students from previous graduating classes. The class of 2026 will be awarded over $69,000 in financial aid, contributing to nearly $275,000 in total scholarships this year, which is a $45,000 increase from last year.
