(FRANKFORT, Ky.) -- Wynn Long Radford III, president and co-owner of Higgins Insurance Agency in Hopkinsville, is the recipient of the sixth annual Joseph W. Kelly Award.
The award was presented to Radford today by the Kentucky Board of Education at its regular meeting in Frankfort.
Radford was nominated by the Hopkinsville-Christian County Workforce Excellence Partnership Advisory Board. He developed, implemented and funded the James White Scholars Program, which matches community volunteers with local minority students to provide assistance and mentoring as they prepare for college or university admission. Radford also serves on the newly-formed Superintendents Education Committee, a local organization comprised of citizens who provide input and feedback on educational issues.
The scholars program is named for James White, who graduated from University Heights Academy in Hopkinsville and Harvard University. White, who works as a recruiter for a college in Boston, Massachusetts, also holds workshops for the program and serves as a motivator for local minority students.
In its nomination, the advisory board said that Wynn works "tirelessly" to help young people in the area have brighter futures.
"Wynn has been very active in motivating and encouraging the youth of our community. He and approximately 50 area businesspeople are advocates for higher education to these students. They encourage them to take rigorous coursework, file appropriate paperwork, take college entrance exams in a timely manner and strive for excellence."
The award was created in honor of Joseph W. Kelly, a respected businessman and chair of the Kentucky Board of Education from 1991 to 1998. Kelly’s efforts and expertise were crucial to the implementation and nurturing of Kentucky’s school improvement efforts.
The annual award is given by the Kentucky Board of Education to businesspeople who have offered outstanding leadership and service toward promoting school improvement and equitable educational opportunities for all Kentucky children.
Previous Winners of the Joseph Kelly Award
2004 -- Ann Yager Hamlin, director at Stith Funeral Home in Danville
2003 -- State Representative Jimmy Higdon, owner of Higdon's Foodtown in Lebanon
2002 -- Frank and Mattie Justice, founders of the Frank and Mattie Justice Charitable Foundation in Pikeville
2001 -- Billy Harper, president of Harper Industries, Inc., in Paducah
2000 -- Vince and Valorie Tanner, owners of the Beaver Dam McDonald's restaurant
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