Rogers Scholars graduate Molly Frank, second from left, is the 2011 Doug Reece Memorial Award recipient. With her are Lauren Hayes, youth programs coordinator, and Lonnie Lawson, president and CEO of The Center.
Rogers Scholars graduate Molly Frank of Green County has been awarded the Doug Reece Memorial Award for having the highest-scoring application among students who participated this summer in the second class of The Center for Rural Development’s 2011 Rogers Scholars program.
Frank, 16, a student at Green County High School, was recognized and presented the award on July 15 at the conclusion of the week-long program during the Rogers Scholars awards ceremony and graduation program held at The Center in Somerset.
The award is presented in memory of the late Doug Reece, a prominent attorney in Southern and Eastern Kentucky and former chairman of the executive committee of The Center’s board of directors.
Lonnie Lawson, president and CEO of The Center, and Lauren Hayes, youth programs coordinator, accompanied by Rogers Scholars resident adviser and former 2007 Doug Reece Memorial Award recipient Madison Wesley, presented Frank with a handcrafted Appalachian dulcimer donated by Dr. Bruce Ayers, president of Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College. Frank also will receive a $250 scholarship to any in-state college or university as part of the award.
Afterwards, Lawson and Hayes remained on stage to present each of the 36 Rogers Scholars graduates in the second and final summer class of the year with certificates of achievements acknowledging their completion in the program.
“The Rogers Scholars program has provided me with multiple opportunities to expand my leadership skills in ways I never had before,” Frank said.
The Center’s board of directors created the Doug Reece Memorial Award and scholarship in his name to recognize one Rogers Scholar from each of the summer’s two graduating classes. Reece served on the board of directors from 1995 through 2005 and was board chairman at the time of his death in 2006.
Frank is the daughter of Jim and Angela Frank of Greensburg.
