Pay It Forward: $40-Thousand Awarded to 4 Louisiana Seniors

LAFAYETTE, LA (KPEL NEWS) - Four high school seniors from across south Louisiana were awarded substantial scholarships by a local attorney. For the 15th year in a row, Lafayette personal injury attorney Glenn Armentor recognized the young adults for their academic efforts and financial need. The 2024 winning students attend public high schools in Lafayette, Acadia, and Vermilion Parishes.

Armentor has honored students with $10,000 to assist with funding their post-secondary education with the "Pay It Forward" Scholarship of Excellence. The “Pay It Forward” Selection Committee is comprised of several Lafayette-area community members who are passionate about the pursuit of education. Candidates are meticulously selected by an impartial panel of community leaders, assessing a range of criteria such as academic performance, determination, financial need, and aspirations for higher education.

Many of these young men and women have experienced obstacles and setbacks, both financial and emotional, that many adults have not overcome. Despite such challenges, these amazing students from Scott, Crowley, Erath, and Abbeville have maintained a GPA of 3.5 to 4.0. Even those with a stable upbringing have trouble achieving what these students have already accomplished.

Armentor said of the students:

They will have a chance to do the things that I'm doing now, assisting ‘at risk’ young people without the funds to attend college, to enter university studies for which they are academically gifted. All of them have an opportunity, as a result, to pay it forward themselves.

He notes that the public originally believed the "Pay It Forward" scholarship program a publicity stunt:

In the early years of the ‘Pay It Forward’ Scholarship, many people criticized our support for these students as a lawyer advertisement, thinking that ‘Pay It Forward’ was all about advertising The Glenn Armentor Law Corporation. I think most people now realize that our long-term commitment is there … that the dedication to ‘Pay It Forward’ is all-encompassing for me and my law firm.

The four scholarship recipients are:

• Lola Bowen of Erath High School
• Hermione Mayfield of Crowley High School
• David Tran of Abbeville High School
• Emily Bourque of Acadiana High School