The C.E.F.S. Economic Opportunity Corporation Board of Directors recently awarded $8000 in scholarships to area students pursuing post-secondary education. The scholarships are available through funding from the Community Services Block Grant Program from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. The program was established in 1985 to assist individuals to seeking higher education to advance their marketability as employees. In the past 31 years the CSBG has awarded $350,376 in scholarships to 499 students.
Two students, Bethany Cluster and Amanda Poe, were recognized at the recent annual C.E.F.S. Board of Directors meeting.
Cluster is from Effingham and is attending Lake Land College to attain a degree in Human Services, specializing in Psychology. She is interested in using her education to open a home for the elderly and open a private practice for marriage and family counseling.
Poe, also of Effingham, is transferring form Lake Land College to Eastern Illinois University to major in Early Childhood Education. Amanda’s goal is to pursue her childhood dream of becoming a teacher. She hopes to teach kindergarten.