Eighteen students from Jessamine County have been named Sen. Jeff Green Scholars by the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA). To earn this honor, a student must have a 4.0-grade point average each year of high school and at least a 28 composite on the ACT.

These students have also earned $2,500 a year in Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship (KEES) awards. If they keep their grades up in college, they will have $10,000 to use toward a four-year degree. The designation honors the late state Sen. Jeff Green of Mayfield, who served in the Kentucky General Assembly from 1992 to 1997.

The students who earned the distinction are: Tucker Carr, Kaitlyn Maricle and Benjamin Vidal from East Jessamine High School; Rosemary Alden, Kaili Carson, Nathan Fielder, Bethany Hamilton, Lauren Hemenover, Ian Kratzer, Luke Morris and Kathy Munoz-Hofmann from West Jessamine High School; and Abigail Dollus, Lucy Hargis, Skyler Palmer, Tristan Palmer, Elizabeth Ransdell, William Richardson and Brooke Scott from Lexington Christian Academy.

KEES and other Kentucky student aid programs are administered by KHEAA. KEES awards are funded by net Kentucky lottery proceeds and may be used at most colleges and universities in Kentucky. In some cases, the award may be used at an out-of-state school if the major the student is pursuing is not available in Kentucky. No application is necessary for KEES awards.