AMI Chamber awards scholarships

Three Manatee County graduating seniors were honored with scholarships by the AMI Chamber of Commerce on March 23.

BY JASON SCHAFFER SUN CORRESPONDENT | jschaffer@amisun.com

HOLMES BEACH - The Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce’s monthly Business Card Exchange is always a great networking event, but the March 23 event at LaPensee Plumbing, Pools and Air was extra special for three area high school seniors who were each awarded a $1,000 college scholarship by the Chamber.

Evan Christenson, Hannah Ferguson and Terrance Johnson Jr. were on hand to accept their awards and meet Island business owners and managers.

Christenson is graduating from St. Stephen’s Episcopal School with a GPA of 4.24. He is a member of the varsity lacrosse team and volunteers at the AMI Center. Evan has been accepted to Florida State University and will major in finance and law. He hopes to return to Bradenton to establish his career and to dedicate time to help seniors and veterans who need business and or legal services.

Ferguson graduates from Braden Riv er High School and has been engaged in businesses of her own from an early age, from her lemonade stand to her bakery. She became the “leader” in the classroom as well as captain of the volleyball team and girls’ flag football team. She will major in entrepreneur ship and innovations at the University of South Florida next fall. Her dream is to own a successful business on Anna Maria Island.

Johnson graduates through the AICE program at Palmetto High School. The pandemic significantly impacted him with the loss of faceto-face instruction. He overcame the situation by setting and maintaining his own goals to maintain good grades. He will attend Florida A&M University to study business, market ing and information technology.

“These scholarships are open to any Manatee County graduating senior who is pursuing further education, whether it be a four-year degree, twoyear degree or a trade school,” AMI Chamber President Terry Kinder said. “The applications are turned in to the Chamber, which has a committee that goes through the applications and scores them, then picks the beneficiaries."