West Union fund awards four new scholarships to seniors

West Union High School seniors got a concrete boost in the final stretch toward college: the West Union Alumni and Friends Education Fund awarded four new scholarships on May 14, giving each student a two-year path to $2,000 in support if they keep a strong GPA and remain in good standing.

The recipients are Lea McNeilan, Nina McCann, Brylee Mills and Liam Purcell. McNeilan plans to attend Shawnee State University and major in nursing. McCann is headed to The Ohio State University with her sights set on becoming a surgeon. Mills will attend the University of Cincinnati to study business and marketing, and Purcell plans to enroll at Morehead State University for radiology.

The awards matter because they do more than recognize achievement. Each student will receive $1,000 for the 2026-27 academic year and another $1,000 for 2027-28, a structure that gives West Union graduates something many families in Adams County do not have enough of: a little more certainty about how to pay for the next stage after high school. For students entering health care, medicine, business and technical fields, that kind of recurring help can ease pressure at the exact point when tuition, books, fees and living costs start to pile up.

The scholarship program is part of the West Union Schools Alumni & Friends Educational Fund, which the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio says is intended to enrich academic and cultural opportunities in the West Union School District. That mission reaches beyond scholarships to include field trips, educational programs, classroom resources and encouragement for teacher development, tying the fund to the broader health of the school system, not just to one graduating class.

Foundation for Appalachian Ohio has been working with donors since 1998, and the West Union fund has now granted more than $70,000 in scholarships and gifts. That total shows a steady rise from more than $20,000 in awards noted in 2022 to more than $60,000 in 2025, before topping $70,000 this year. The growth suggests hometown support has become an increasingly important part of the education pipeline for students who want to leave West Union for college but still need help getting there.

The fund is also asking alumni and friends to keep that support going. Dennis Sizemore is listed as a contact for donations, and contributions can be mailed to West Union Schools Alumni and Friends Education Fund, P.O. Box 444, West Union, Ohio 45693. In a county where families are weighing the costs of higher education against the value of staying close to home, the scholarships serve as a reminder that local investment can still shape what comes next for the students who graduate from West Union.