He was just a teenager, but Jon Sargent could already picture his career endgame. He wanted to become an electrical engineer and get a job at Alabama Power.

It all became clear during a career fair at Walker High School (now Jasper High School), where various companies had come in and set up displays. The power company table, he said, had the coolest toys.

But how to get from point A (high school) to point B (engineering job at Alabama Power) – he had no clue, especially, the challenge of paying for school.

Raised in a working-class family, money was definitely tight. While Sargent was in high school, his mom, a schoolteacher, was struck down with a double aneurism, which compelled his father to quit his job as a mining engineer and become her full-time caretaker.

Today, Sargent’s mom is, blessedly, doing OK. But as graduation neared, the family lacked the resources to help put him through college.

His salvation: a scholarship from the Walker College Foundation, a small, public charity based in Jasper that helps students from Walker County fulfill their dreams of higher education.

Nearly 20 years old now, Walker College Foundation’s story actually begins in 1938, when its namesake Walker College – now Bevill State Community College – was first established.

By the mid-1950s, school leaders at Walker College had cobbled together a modest endowment. They decided to create the Walker College Foundation as a separate, local nonprofit, with its own board of directors, with the mission of using endowment earnings to help local deserving students with tuition.

Nearly a half-century later, “we continue that legacy,” said Holly Trawick, Walker College Foundation president. Through careful management, the endowment now tops $16 million, proceeds of which are helping ease the financial burden for dozens of Walker County students attending Bevill State each year.

Sargent said the foundation was a lifesaver for his college dreams, paying all his tuition costs at Bevill. But just as important, he said, was the guidance provided by Trawick and the network of former foundation scholars who continue to give back to the program that helped them. With that network of support, Sargent continued on to earn his bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in 2019, and secure that coveted power company job.

Jon Sargent and wife Capon. (contributed)

“It’s not just the scholarship. To me, it was the charitable hearts they provided,” Sargent said about the foundation and its close-knit association of alums. He said Trawick and others connected to the foundation helped him polish his resume and identify other resources to pay for his school costs. He said they also emphasized the importance of community service and getting involved in campus activities, as well as providing wise counsel to get him through a few rough patches.

“I didn’t know what to do … I was a college kid,” Sargent said, noting that Trawick also helped him apply, successfully, for a UAB presidential scholarship.

“Holly was a huge part of it all,” Sargent said, and it’s why he continues to be involved today with the Walker College Foundation, helping support the students who are following him.

Right now, the foundation has 44 scholarship students enrolled at Bevill State Community College. Typically, the foundation disperses about $250,000 annually to support students at Bevill State.

The foundation also administers a scholarship endowed by Drummond Company, which has historical ties to Walker County. The Drummond Company scholarships are broader and can be used by students to attend other colleges and universities; they also support some students graduating from high schools in neighboring counties where Drummond has a presence.

Walker College Foundation scholars who graduate from Bevill also can tap into a separate fund that provides one-time transfer scholarships of up to $4,000 toward a bachelor’s degree, helping smooth the financial path for those continuing their academic careers. And for those at Bevill pursuing a nursing degree, which requires three years of study, the Walker College Foundation will pay for the full courseload.

Community service is part of the Walker College Foundation scholar experience. (contributed)

Since 1995, the Walker College Foundation has provided nearly $3 million in student scholarships. Of those, 90% attending Bevill State under the foundation’s two-year scholarship program graduate with their associate degree.

“Even though we are a public foundation, we offer our scholars the type of extra support provided by private scholarship foundations: speakers from the community, soft skills training, lunches, service opportunities,” Trawick said. “We try to keep our scholars engaged with each other, and with the foundation.”

She said the foundation accepts donations of any amount to support scholarships, complementing the proceeds it has available through its endowment.

Trawick said about half the students receiving foundation scholarships are the first in their families to attend college. The vast majority of recipients have financial need, although scholarships can also be awarded based solely on academic achievement.

“Some of our scholarship recipients, may be great students who just barely missed the mark for scholarships from other sources,” Trawick said.

She said many of the foundation scholars earn excellent grades and build the resumes they need while at Bevill State to secure scholarships to attend four-year schools. About 75% of foundation scholars transfer to four-year colleges.

She noted that many foundation scholarship applicants, while they may have some resources, soon realize “college is a huge expense they didn’t plan for” after adding up all the costs. Support from the foundation, she said, can be the difference between those students attending or not attending college.

Take Brady Pare and his once-girlfriend (now wife) Deanna – both former foundation scholars. The two were high school sweethearts at Carbon Hill High School when they first learned about the foundation.

Pare described his family as “middle-class.” But with three kids and just one wage-earner, he knew it was going to be a struggle for his parents to put him through college.

“Being from a small town, I didn’t want to go off to a big college right off the bat.” He said Bevill State offered the perfect option, and the Walker College Foundation scholarship helped him avoid accumulating college-related debt.

Like Sargent, Pare had an interest in becoming an electrical engineer, inspired by his father, who worked for Alabama Power. He realized Bevill State would “set me up pretty well” for that career path while allowing him to “stay close to home and stay in budget.”

Like Sargent, Pare graduated from Bevill and transferred to UAB, with Trawick helping guide him toward scholarships that covered most of his UAB tuition. Pare began working for Alabama Power parent Southern Company in 2019 as a coop student before graduating with his engineering degree in 2021. He now works in Southern Company’s transmission organization out of offices in Alabama.

As for Deanna, she took advantage of a Walker College Foundation scholarship on her way to becoming a dental hygienist. The couple now live in Jasper and are expecting their first child.

Deanna and Brady Pare both benefitted from the Walker College Foundation. (contributed)

Pare said the students who attended Bevill with him on Walker College Foundation scholarships got to know each other well, and many of them remain his friends. Like Sargent, he continues to stay connected to the foundation, helping support the students who’ve come after him.

“The foundation really set me up well, giving me a great boost – not only for my education but also for my career,” Pare said.

“It really fell together perfectly, when I got into the program, setting me up for scholarships and to work for a great company.”

To learn more about the Walker College Foundation, visit wcfdn.org.