Dixon Scholarship awarded

The Award Nights at Santa Rosa County High Schools are wonderful to attend, Thankfully, it has become a long program, because so many deserving hard working students receive scholarships, which will make it possible for them to attend college even with the increases in tuition and books in recent years.

However, most of the students know what they will receive. This was the case for Amber-Rae Ebert graduating from Pace High School. She was thrilled to be receiving one of the University of West Florida’s President Scholarships that would go a long way to help her in reaching her educational goal of becoming an English teacher. Her dual enrollment will take her into college about half way through her Sophomore year.

The Dixon Scholarship awarded by the Pace Civic Association (P.C.A.) however is NOT announced prior to presentation. It is a $500 scholarship that has been presented for 29 years along with Citizenship Awards PCA has presented in 9 schools for over 40 years. A large plaque hangs in Pace High School Library, which has a picture of the late S.S. “Sam” Dixon. A brief account about Sam preserves a little of why his life resulted in a school and a scholarship bearing his name, prior to his death.

Retired Pace School teacher, Virginia Reddoch, presented the scholarship. She was accompanied by the widow of Sam Dixon, Ethel Dixon, whom Principal Frank Lay introduced to the audience. The two PCA representatives received significant applause since many parents in attendance have fond memories when these two were their elementary school teachers.

Amber-Rae stated she was thrilled and very surprised to have been selected and prays her teaching career will be a tribute to the man and educator Mr. Dixon must have been. She concluded by an expression of how much she enjoyed the lovely facilities of Immanuel Baptist where the awards program was held and that “It was neat that Mrs. Dixon was there with Mrs. Reddoch.”