The Lawton Family Scholarship has a seven-year history of awards to students of excellence. This year is no exception. The three students receiving the Lawton Scholarship this year, Jai’lyn Armour, Sherlyn Camacho-Bustamante and Ryan Evans, all from Greene County High School, are standouts in many areas.

The Lawton Family Scholarship is awarded each year to deserving students in Greene County. Qualified students begin the application process. A selection team then reviews all applications and recommends applicants for interviews with the Lawton family, who makes the final decision. One criterion for qualification is that students must have had a connection with ATLAS Ministry during their high school years, either through courses offered by ATLAS or after school activities, mentoring, leadership, etc. This year, all three recipients spoke highly of the ATLAS course they took called “Tools for Success,” based on Stephen Covey’s “Seven Habits for Highly Successful People.” Each of the students was able to articulate which of the habits meant the most to them in terms of helping frame their thinking for now and for the future.

Jai’lyn Armour is a quiet-spoken young man, yet strong in his convictions for achieving his goal of a career in business analytics and marketing. In his interview as a finalist, he was confident, calm and well-spoken. He talked about his learning in “Tools for Success” and said the course “pushed him” and encouraged him to be proactive. In Jai’lyn’s words, ”Develop yourself, then develop others.”

He also spoke about the effects of learning time management tools that taught him to plan one to two days ahead for his academic work rather than waiting until the last minute. He had a strong involvement in extracurricular activities that allowed him to develop his skills in creating marketing materials. He created a brochure for the Pete Nance Boys and Girls Club from “just a few bullet points” given to him. The brochure was of benefit to the club and also a confidence-booster for him. He credits his involvement in DECA for both leadership and for advancing his skills in graphic design. He was active in several other student organizations including National Beta Club, Future Business Leaders of America, and UGA Leadership. In all these, he held leadership roles. He was also named a Georgia Secretary of State Student Ambassador, a student leadership program that encourages civic participation and voter registration. He received regional awards through DECA for retail merchandising and principles of finance projects. He was named Rotary Student of the Month and also received the Superintendent’s Award of Excellence. Academically, he finished in the top five in his class with an outstanding record. He will attend the University of Georgia beginning in the fall. He stated in his interview, “I want to be as close as possible to home.” He has a younger sibling and wants to help “guide him to greatness.”

Sherlyn Camacho-Bustamente is unique in that not only is she a Lawton Scholar, but she is also one of the first REACH Georgia Scholars. Her outstanding academic achievement is evidenced by her being named valedictorian of Greene County High School’s Class of 2023. Her academic honors also include being named to All “A” Honor Roll for four years. She achieved the top-5 in her grade each year, Rotary Student of the Month, and UGA Recognition, all while being involved in sports as a member of cross county, soccer and captain of the track team. She was involved in school activities including BETA Club, DECA, and FFA as well as serving as a guide for the Greene County College and Career Academy. Since she is also bilingual, she served as an interpreter/translator at the Greene County Courthouse and also at the health department, assisting people who were receiving vaccinations during COVID19. Her strongest involvement, however, was with JROTC during which she developed a paper drive, spoke at a Veteran’s Day event, and helped implement a Latinx festival. In her time with JROTC, she rose through the ranks from cadet to Group Commander, a nod to her leadership ability and organizational skills. She credits her JROTC experience as well as her lessons in “Tools for Success” with helping her learn to fully process information before making decisions. She learned to look at positive indicators rather than negative and “shift the paradigm” with which she looked at situations. She was able to use this to her advantage as she committed to attend Georgia College & State University. She is enthusiastic when she talks about college and about her dream career of having her own accounting firm to, in her words, help “avoid failure within a person’s business.” She will begin the work toward her major in accounting with a minor in finance starting this fall.

There was never a question of whether Ryan Evans would attend the University of Georgia — he says his whole family is UGA all the way! He likely has the advantage of knowing parts of the campus well from the football games he has attended with his family over the years. As one of the top students in the 2023 graduating class, he has already earned a Technical College Certificate from Athens Technical College in early college essentials, a program that provides students the opportunity to earn college credit for up to six general education courses that are transferrable to any University System of Georgia institution. He was awarded the UGA Certificate of Merit for his place in the top 5% of his graduating class and was also named a Rotary Student of the Month. He is driven to do well. One of his teachers says that she “has never had a student more interested in learning how he went wrong so that he could improve his understanding of a topic.” She describes him as someone who manages his time wisely and stays on top of his coursework. He says that he learned much about time management in “Tools for Success.” He reflected that before the course, he knew what he was doing wrong but didn’t really have the steps to do things differently. Through “Tools for Success,” he learned to do his work first, which gave him more time to then do the things he wanted to do and have fun doing them. He has a strong passion for baseball. He was a pitcher throughout high school, serving as team captain in his last three years. He earned varsity letters as well as the Silver Slugger award. He took it upon himself to tutor fellow team members to help them gain eligibility on the team. He says he has played baseball “most of his life” and gives much of his time coaching younger players. He commented in his interview that coaching and volunteering at the rec department “is where he feels happiest.” He likes being a leader and having the younger players look up to him, and he recognizes the responsibility that comes with that mentoring. His career goal is to become a biomedical engineer. He would like to return to Greene County because he likes the small-town environment and feels he has a lot to offer here. He will begin his studies at the University of Georgia this fall.

The Lawton Family Scholarship is flourishing in its eighth year. The family established the direction and purpose of their scholarship, which is to “Inspire hope, build futures, and transform the lives of teens in Green County.” 

“Our dream is to have many LAWTON SCHOLARS thrive with their educational dreams and pursue careers that positively impact lives and the future communities where they choose to reside. Our family will be involved a MENTORS to these individuals during their educational journey and their future work-related roles,” said Greg Lawton.

The Lawton family developed a partnership with ATLAS Ministry in 2014 to administer their scholarship. ATLAS Ministry is a Christ-centered community resource serving Greene County since 2006. They serve families who are committed to setting their lives on a healthy and productive path. Through a carefully developed continuum, ATLAS instills both academic and Biblical literacy in students, and they provide a continuous connection with families and children.