Local MGSC Student Awarded Top Foundation Scholarship

COCHRAN, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A student attending Middle Georgia State College has been selected to receive a top award courtesy of the Foundation for Rural Education and Development, or FRED, according to a news release.

Tara Alexandra Smith, who goes to the MGSC Cochran campus, will be given the Everette Kneece Return to Rural America Scholarship, which is an academic scholarship worth $5,000.

Nominated by ComSouth, the scholarship is based on merit and demonstrated commitment to rural life. FRED will send the award to MGSC on behalf of Ms. Smith this upcoming August.

FRED, founded in 1989, selected 53 students from rural areas throughout the country who were nominated by local telecommunications companies and cooperatives. $75,000 has been awarded so far this year, bringing the total amount to $1.2 million.

Robert W. Krueger, President and CEO of ComSouth, wrote the letter of recommendation nominating Smith, “Tara is a very accomplished and deserving recipient… We look forward to great achievements from her in the future.”

The executive director of FRED, Melissa Korzuch, said that Smith represented the “best of the best”, and was thrilled to award her the prize.

More information about the successful applicants and how to apply for next year’s program is available at www.fred.org.

ComSouth has been an integrated independent telecommunications company serving Middle Georgia since 1913.

Pictured Above: Tara’s mother Angela Smith, Tara Smith, and ComSouth President and CEO Robert Krueger