(Clockwise from top left) Emelin McHugh, Amanda Melvin, Sophia Hayden and Lukas Giesen were awarded awarded Inspire Scholarships for entrepreneurial savvy.
Four Batavia High School seniors have received the 2025 Inspire Scholarships by the Batavia Chamber of Commerce for their academic achievements and entrepreneurial ambitions.
Each recipient is awarded a scholarship worth $1,000 to go toward tuition at their next academic institution. The recipients were honored at the Senior Recognition Night at Batavia High School on Tuesday, May 13, according to a release by the Batavia Chamber of Commerce.
Batavia High School senior Lukas Giesen was awarded the ‘Inspiring Entrepreneurship’ scholarship by the Batavia Chamber of Commerce for his work establishing his own power washing business. (Photo Provided By The Batavia Chamber of Commerce)
Receiving the Inspiring Entrepreneurship award, Lukas Giesen founded his own business, GTS Solutions, providing power washing services. Giesen said his experiences cultivated skills in customer relations, budgeting and marketing. He will be pursuing a career as a physical education teacher and attend Eastern Illinois University. He intends to expand GTS Solutions into a year-round business.
Batavia High School senior Sophia Hayden is awarded the ‘Inspiring Women in Business’ scholarship by the Batavia Chamber of Commerce for her work establishing the school’s Model United Nations team. (Photo Provided By The Batavia Chamber of Commerce)
This year’s Inspiring Women in Business Award went to Sophia Hayden who established Batavia High School’s Model United Nations team. Hayden will attend McGill University pursuing business-related coursework in political science and international relations with the goal of becoming a lawyer.
Batavia High School Senior Emelin McHugh is awarded the ‘Career & Technical Achievers’ by the Batavia Chamber of Commerce to pursue a career in architecture. (Photo Provided By The Batavia Chamber of Commerce)
Emelin McHugh received the Career & Technical Achievers award and is pursuing a career in architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. McHugh attended a summer camp at Ball State University’s College of Architecture and Urban Planning where she further reinforced her love for architecture which was developed during her engineering coursework at Batavia High School.
Batavia High School senior Amanda Melvin is awarded the ‘Inspiring Contributors to a Batavia Chamber Business’ scholarship by the Batavia Chamber of Commerce to pursue a career as a physician’s assistant. (Photo Provided By The Batavia Chamber of Commerce)
This year’s ‘Inspiring Contributors to a Batavia Chamber Business’ award is given to Amanda Melvin. Melvin intends to pursue a career as a physician assistant at Illinois State University. Since 2023, Melvin has worked at the Chamber-sponsored Chick-fil-A, where she said she learned the importance of communication and working as a team. Melvin said the customer service skills she learned will help her in the health field where patient relationships and bedside manners are of huge importance.
Margaret Perrault, president and CEO of the Batavia Chamber of Commerce said the scholarships are an opportunity to empower the future inspiring leaders of the community.
“We are happy to support our community and our membership with this program,” Perrault said in the release. “When our businesses share the scholarship program with their employees, it is another opportunity for them to show that they are committed to their employees and their families.”
Copyright © 2023 Shaw Local News Network
Copyright © 2023 Shaw Local News Network

source