Scholarship season has arrived in the North State. If you haven’t yet heard it at your high school, seniors: Check with your coach, counselor or principal about the 2025 Scholar-Athlete of the Year and pick up your application form.
Each year, the Record Searchlight/Redding.com, Seamans Foundation and Rotary Club of Redding present the award to the students who have proven their academic excellence, athletic achievement and dedication to their communities — in that order.
The scholar-athlete award carries a lot of prestige and pride in the sports community since the very first winners were named 40 years ago.
The 2024 Scholar-Athletes were Joriana Gibbens-Egolf of Shasta and Henry Baum of Yreka. A panel of judges from the Record Searchlight, Rotary Club and Seamans Family Foundation chose them after identifying six male and six female finalists. All told, the judges received applications from dozens of students from Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama and Trinity counties.
“We’re certainly hoping for 40 applicants” said Ken Seamans, whose family foundation provides the scholarships, “but if we get more, that would be wonderful.”
Seamans and the family foundation helped expand to 12 scholar-athlete recipients from 10 in 2017, according to the Record Searchlight archive. And the program also has been able to increase the monetary amounts of the scholarship.
Last year, the two winners each received $2,000 scholarships from the foundation, and the 10 finalists each received $1,000 scholarships during a luncheon in Redding.
“I was able to provide a nice living for my family,” said Seamans, who with his family came to Redding from Southern California in 1973 and made his business as an independent insurance broker. “It’s been a good way to give back to the community.”
The Record Searchlight will receive high school seniors’ applications. Former Record Searchlight sports editor Aaron Williams is helping coordinate efforts. The application deadline is April 18.
The luncheon is scheduled on May 8 during the Rotary Club of Redding’s gathering at Riverview Golf and Country Club.
Students and parents should check with their high schools, or they can also email Record Searchlight executive editor Jenny Espino at RRSEdit@redding.com, for a copy of the application and eligibility rules. If emailing the Record Searchlight, use Scholar-Athlete in the subject line.
