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Brooks, LeBoeuf, Bennett, Foster & Gwartney
Area High School Juniors and Seniors Challenged to Break Lincoln High School's (Scroll to bottom of page for link to pdf of Scholarship application) The Tallahassee-based law firm of Brooks, LeBoeuf, Bennett, Foster & Gwartney announces its' 8th annual $2,500 Freedom Scholarship essay competition. The firm also issued a special challenge to high school juniors and seniors throughout Leon, Wakulla, Gadsden and Jefferson counties to break Lincoln High School's six-year winning streak for the $2,500 cash scholarship, one of the single largest private scholarships awarded locally. In 2001, the inaugural year of the competition, a Rickards High student wrote the winning essay on the topic "The Bill of Rights: What they mean to me as an American." Since that time, Lincoln students have maintained an undefeated position, winning $12,500 of the $17,500 in scholarships the law firm has donated in the past seven years to area high school juniors and seniors. "Kathleen Wade, a Lincoln High junior at the time of winning, was the winner of last year's Freedom Scholarship," firm partner Scott Gwartney said. "She is a bright young woman and did an outstanding job expressing her thoughts on the Bill of Rights." Gwartney continued, "Every year our esteemed judges comment on how impressed they are by the caliber of students this competition attracts. I have to admit, we were all surprised when we realized that the judges had blindly selected yet another winner from Lincoln High. It certainly puts Lincoln in the enviable position of being undefeated for six consecutive years. And we believe it puts an extra exciting edge to the challenge this year. We want to encourage more participation from other students in our neighboring counties.""I found out about the contest through my English teacher, Mrs. Spradlin," said Kathleen Wade, the 2007 Freedom Scholarship winner. "I've always been interested in legal topics, but I didn't know exactly where to start. I finally decided to write about my involvement with our school's Mock Trial team and how that experience affected my outlook on our Constitution. I didn't think I was going to win, because I'm from Lincoln and I saw an article in the paper encouraging other students to "give Lincoln a run for their money." I was surprised when I received a phone call from Mr. Gwartney and I would just like to thank Brooks, LeBoeuf, Bennett, Foster & Gwartney for giving me the opportunity and the money to fund my college tuition. It is definitely appreciated." Wade is interested in majoring in Political Science and Classical Civilizations at Georgetown, University of Virginia or William and Mary and then continuing on to law school. "Each year the firm is fortunate to have a group of independent "celebrity" judges kind enough to donate their time to read and rate each unidentified entry and then select the winning essay," said Gwartney. The 2007 judges included U.S. Magistrate Judge William C. Sherrill, Jr., District Court of Northern Florida; Circuit Court Judge George Reynolds, Second Judicial Circuit Court, and Dean Don Weidner of the Florida State University College of Law. In addition to receiving $2,500.00, the winner has his or her name placed on a trophy along with the prior scholarship recipients. The trophy is then displayed at the winner's alma mater until the next year's scholarship is awarded. Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp joined the firm's partners and Lincoln Principal Martha Bunch at the Capitol to present Kathleen and her parents, Neill and Debbie Wade, with her $2,500 check from the law firm and the trophy that has remained in Lincoln's trophy case all year. Read Kathleen's winning essay by clicking here. For more information about the Freedom Scholarship contact Lauren Heitmeyer at Brooks, LeBoeuf, Bennett, Foster & Gwartney, P.A., 850.222.2000 or click on the link below to print the pdf of the essay application, due March 25, 2008. Recap of contest rules:
The 2008 8th Annual Freedom Scholarship Essay application is now available. Please click here to download the 2008 application. Please contact our firm for more information and details on our Freedom Scholarship!
Freedom Scholarship Winners: .jpg)
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