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During the student recognition portion of the June Troup County School Board, the Dernell Renauld Stenson Foundation named this year’s scholarship winners, along with the foundation’s STEM Achievement Award recipients.

Dernell Stenson is a former Major League baseball player who got his start in Troup County. Stenson was a star baseball player at LaGrange High School. Stenson was drafted by the Boston Red Sox and later moved to the Cincinnati Reds, where he made his big league debut in 2003.

Just months after making it to the show, the outfielder was tragically killed in a homicide in 2004.

After his passing, the Dernell Renauld Stenson Foundation was created to continue his inspiration to promote academic and leadership excellence through scholarship awards.

Starting in 2013, the foundation has provided scholarships to high school graduates and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) awards to elementary and middle school students. In 2024, the foundation joined with LaGrange College to sponsor a yearly scholarship to a deserving student.

In total, the Stenson Foundation has supported educational pursuits for 43 high school graduates, 56 elementary and middle school STEM recipients, and one college student. During the foundation’s 13 years, it has awarded 100 recipients totaling $71,000.

• This year’s four TCSS students were awarded $1,100 scholarships from the foundation. The 2025 Dernell Stenson Scholarship recipients include:
  
  Jackson Bozeman of LaGrange High (Academic Excellence Scholarship)
• Cooper Stephens of LaGrange High (Best All-Around Scholarship)
• Grady Westmoreland of LaGrange High (Academic Excellence Scholarship) 
• Beanna Crawford of Troup High School (Best All-Around Scholarship)

Nine elementary and middle school students were also awarded $50 gift cards through the foundation’s STEM Achievement Awards. Recipients include:

• Madison Gibens, Fifth Grader at Berta Weathersbee Elementary
• Camden Thornton, Fourth Grader at Franklin Forest Elementary
• Carson Ivey, Fifth Grader at Long Cane Elementary
• Hyeah Suh, Fifth Grader at Long Cane Elementary
• Cyrus Wood, Fifth Grader at Long Cane Elementary
• Xariah Graddy, Eighth Grader at Gardner Newman Middle 
• Junhyuk Jo, Seventh Grader at Gardner Newman Middle 
• Jordan Kuhns, Eighth Grader at Long Cane Middle
• Vraj Patel, Eighth Grader at Long Cane Middle.