Kerilynn M. Spafford Memorial Scholarship

This Scholarship is funded annually by contributions to the Foundation by family and friends to honor the memory of Kerilynn Spafford, a 2010 graduate of Franklin Pierce High School.

A Scholarship award is made to a graduating senior of Franklin Pierce High School who intends to pursue a career in nursing or other careers in the medical field.

• Must be a graduating senior of Franklin Pierce High School with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher
• Preference is to be given to a graduating senior intending to pursue a career in nursing.
• If no eligible graduate intends to pursue a career in nursing then the scholarship may be awarded to an eligible graduate pursuing a career in another health profession, including, but not limited to, sports medicine, veterinary medicine, physical therapy, and pharmacy.
• Must have documented active involvement in service to the community.
• The recipient must be a person of integrity and good moral character.

The Franklin Pierce Scholarship Committee will select three finalists for this scholarship. Members of the Spafford family will then interview each of the finalists and select the recipient. The family will also select an alternate and the scholarship shall be awarded to that individual if the primary award winner does not meet the requirements of the scholarship

Kerilynn (Keri to all who knew her) was a 2010 graduate of FPHS. She truly enjoyed and maximized her time at Franklin Pierce. Keri was a year round athlete, playing golf in the fall, basketball in the winter and fastpitch in the spring. She lettered in all three sports and was team captain in both golf and fastpitch as a senior. But Keri did not limit her time to just sports. She participated in the DECA club as well as choir during her high school career. Keri was also active in sports medicine where she placed in the top 10 in speed ankle taping at a regional competition. It was perhaps her time in the sports medicine program that led her to pursue a career in nursing after leaving FP.

Upon graduation, Keri was awarded a scholarship to play fastpitch at Highline College in Des Moines and spent 2 years there earning college credits in pre-nursing. One day in August 2012, Keri went to her parents and said, “I’ve been accepted into the pre-nursing program at Valencia College in Orlando, Florida and classes start in 2 weeks.” That was Keri – seizing opportunities and always looking on the positive side of things. Keri moved to Florida and in addition to going to school, she began working full time at The Assistance Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping low income seniors obtain expensive medications for Multiple Sclerosis and other life threatening diseases. The spirit of helping others was a strong motivation for Keri. One Christmas season, she met a couple and their two young children who were stranded without gas or food. She gave them her last $10 to help pay for their gas and then charged a couple of happy meals for the kids.

Keri lived life to the fullest. She loved to travel. She had been to 46 of the 50 US states, Canada, Mexico and on one of her last trips, she visited London and Paris with her family. She was determined to spend her 21st birthday in Las Vegas and made it that year and each subsequent year.

Just prior to her passing, Keri had left her job to become a full time student in the University of Central Florida’s nursing program. To become an RN and earn her bachelor’s degree in nursing was her goal and there is no doubt to those who knew her, that she would have accomplished that and much more. In keeping with this spirit, Keri’s family created this scholarship to help a deserving graduate from Franklin Pierce High School who intends to pursue nursing or another medical career in their post high school education.

• Receipt of a completed Scholarship Acceptance Form will hold this scholarship for the student. The scholarship can be held no longer than 16 months after June 30th of the year of graduation from high school.
• Upon receipt of Proof of Enrollment Form including a student ID number, funds will be released to the institution in the name of the student.