An Aiken High School student got a big surprise in class Wednesday morning.
Rachel Larson, a 17-year-old senior, was awarded a $5,000 scholarship for college by the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina Inc. Representatives from Aiken Electric Co-op and Children's Place delivered the scholarship to Larson in her first-period class.
"I was really surprised," Larson said. "I saw everybody come in and I was like, 'oh my gosh.'"
Over the summer, Larson put together a soccer clinic for kids at Children's Place, a local nonprofit that provides counseling and resources to those dealing with early childhood trauma. Larson, a soccer player at Aiken High, showed up with several of her teammates to help teach the kids the basics of the sport.
“Some kids come to volunteer – she came with an army,” said Children's Place Executive Director Peggy Ford in a press release.
Larson raised enough money for the clinic to ensure every child went home with a soccer ball, and Ford said they haven't stopped playing soccer since. Money leftover from fundraiser to purchase soccer balls was donated to purchasing books for the kids at Children's Place.
For her project, Larson was chosen to represent Aiken Electric Co-op at the Cooperative Youth Summit which was held in Columbia for four days in July. The leadership summit enabled 55 participating students from across the state to apply for the 2019 R.D. Bennett Community Service Scholarship.
Read the full Aiken Standard article here.