Marion Police Chief Randall Davis, right, presents Gabriel Lucas Brinson, a recent graduate of Russell Christian Academy, with a scholarship from the Marion Police Department Foundation.

Eighteen area graduating seniors were recognized for their accomplishments and awarded scholarships by the Marion Police Department Foundation on Friday during a ceremony at the Hamasa Temple Shrine in Marion.

It is the largest group of students the Marion Police Department Foundation has recognized since it began awarding the scholarships three years ago.

“We are a community police department, and we do a lot of school drives and toy drives and everything, but we decided to do a little more and help out kids who are going to college just to let them know that we are encouraging them,” said Marion Police Chief Randall Davis. “It is just a little token from us, our community and our sponsors, to let them know that we care.”

Davis said the foundation receives donations from sponsors, businesses and individuals to be able to award the $300 scholarships.

During the presentation ceremony, Marion Mayor Larry Gill offered the students three pieces of advice he personally found helpful for the future: to have a relationship with God, to work hard and have a good work ethic, and to continue to build relationships with people they will meet in college because one day those contacts may come in useful in their professional careers.

“I know you are going to go out into this world and be great,” Gill told the students.

Guests speakers for the ceremony were Lauderdale County Chief Deputy Ward Calhoun and Judge Veldore Young-Graham.

Calhoun reminded the students that numerous people in their lives have played a role in shaping them into the young people they have become including parents, grandparents, teachers, pastors, employers, coaches, etc. He encouraged the students to make wise choices in college and to stay the course on their expected career paths.

Young-Graham told the graduates that education does not stop at the end of high school, but will come in many forms throughout their lives.

“Work is great for some, college is great for others. You have to decide what is appropriate for you and go for it,” she said. ”But … you’ve got to be the best at whatever you decide you want to do.”

She said she remembered her parents always saying that everybody has the same advantage in life. “Everybody’s got one thing in common. We all get 24 hours in a day, how you use it is left up to you.”

Young-Graham encouraged them to have a good work ethic, respect themselves and others, treat everyone with dignity, make good choices, learn how to follow a budget and save their money and remember to give back to their communities.

Following the presentation, the students, their families and other guests were treated to lunch.

Students who were recognized with scholarships were Jo Leigh Waltman of Clarkdale High School; Shane Kennedy of Enterprise High School; Jayden McLaurine and Gloria Maria Hopson, both of Northeast Lauderdale High School; Adriyana Ruffin and Chandler Lucas, both of Southeast Lauderdale High School; Seraiah Little and Dereauna Williams, both of Kemper County High School; Jay McWilliams of Kemper Academy; Katelynn Smith of Lamar School; Eddie Lamar Bennett of Meridian High School; Gabriel Lucas Brinson of Russell Christian Academy; Bailee Fairley of West Lauderdale High School; Destiny McCluney of Newton High School; Joshua Williams of Union High School; Z-Clarion Stephens of Philadelphia High School; Gracie Waldrop of Neshoba Central High School; and Ja’Keara Turner of Quitman High School.