In September 2013 Larry Spencer, a longtime Juneau realtor and advocate for Southeast Alaska Realtor concerns, passed away. The Southeast Alaskan Board of Realtors wanted to do something to honor him. The result was the establishment of an ongoing scholarship, called the Memorial Scholarship, with the 2014 award being the first and being in honor and memory of Larry.
The scholarship is open to Southeast Alaska residents who are either graduating from a Southeast high school; students graduating from a home school program or a current post-secondary student from Southeast Alaska. High school participation in extra-curricular activities and GPA, intended course of study in the college of their choice, and goals for future employment upon graduation are factors in scholarship selection.
That first year the announcement was sent out to schools throughout Southeast Alaska were 33 applications received. The award was a young woman from Petersburg High School.
In 2016, the Southeast Alaska Board of Realtors decided to expand this scholarship opportunity to more than one student, so the decision was made to choose two students, each of whom would receive a $1,000 scholarship to the college of their choice. The committee received 20 applications in 2016 and an award was given to a young woman graduating from Ketchikan High School and a young man from Juneau-Douglas High School.
The 2017 scholarship committee is excited to say that 37 applications were received from students representing many of our Southeast Alaska communities and with the generous donations received from Southeast Alaska Realtors and the affiliate members, the committee was able to select four recipients to receive $1,000 each this year.
After careful review and discussion, the committee came to a unanimous decision:
The 2017 Southeast Alaska Board of Realtors’ Memorial Scholarship recipient at Thunder Mountain High School in Juneau was McKenna Kincaid; the Kake High School recipient was Shaelene G. Moler; the Thorne Bay School recipient was Curtis Clower, and the Wrangell High School recipient was Garrett Miller.
