The Garrettsville Area Chamber of Commerce has selected two Garrettsville High School seniors as recipients of its annual $1,000 local scholarship award. Elise Edwards and Dakota Stanley were chosen from a competitive pool of applicants based on academic performance, extracurricular involvement, community service and a written essay.
Each $1,000 award is designated for tuition, coursework or books at an accredited college, university or trade program. Proof of enrollment is required before funds are disbursed.
Edwards plans to attend the University of Akron to pursue a degree in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology. Her long-term goal is to become a licensed language pathologist or audiologist.
Throughout her four years at Garrettsville, Edwards compiled an extensive record of involvement. She was a four-year varsity letter winner and senior captain in soccer, a four-year participant in the marching and concert band where she served as head snare drum and co-drumline captain, and a four-year varsity letter winner in track and field throwing events — qualifying for the indoor state meet three times in weight throw and the outdoor state meet in discus.
Edwards also served as secretary of the National Honor Society and as president of Interact for two years, a role that brought her into direct contact with community service work. Among those projects was a “Pictures with Santa” event coordinated with State Farm, as well as NHS-organized car washes, community clean-up days and the Shamrock Shootout, a Unified Basketball tournament hosted at the school.
“Seeing it all come together brought me a lot of pride,” Edwards wrote in her application essay. “Not just in the NHS but also in my school.”
She has also been employed at Camp Asbury since May 2024 and began working at Old Navy in November 2025.
Stanley, the second recipient, intends to study Mechanical Engineering at Ohio Northern University. He described his career ambition as working in the research and development division of a professional racing team, a goal rooted in a longtime passion for motorsports.
“It may not be easy to do, and the field is not as big as other fields, but it is still something I would love to be a part of,” Stanley wrote.
A distance runner, Stanley has competed in cross country and track since 2021, earning varsity letters in both sports. He was inducted into the National Honor Society in 2024 and has worked at Derthick’s Corn Maze. His community service contributions include the NHS car wash, NHS community clean-up events, a youth cross country camp and a middle school track meet.
To prepare for college-level coursework, Stanley completed College Credit Plus courses through both Kent State University and Hiram College. He cited those academic steps, along with the support he received from coaches, teachers and peers, as formative influences on his readiness for life after high school.
“My high school experience has also helped shape who I am and helped me prepare for the future by having people who supported me and pushed me in the right direction,” he wrote.
The Chamber’s scholarship committee evaluated candidates on student goals, grade point average, school and community activities and the quality of a required written essay.
The awards are valid for the current academic school year and are not renewable
