The Ollie Lue Shute Pearson Scholarship is a new minority scholarship created by Mr and Mrs. Pearson

Long time educators James and Ollie Pearson have established a new and local minority scholarship.

The Ollie Lue Shute Pearson scholarship fund in honor of Mrs. Pearson will be giving out its first award next month for the coming school year.

Mr and Mrs. Pearson say that a dream and a long time vision of theirs has been to not only provide the scholarship but also to mentor and provide leadership opportunities to youth in the community.

"Well were just trying to encourage kids who have no hope to be something and its been a lifelong goal of ours to have some participation with a scholarship program,” says Pearson

The scholarship is a minority scholarship program but during presidential election years Pearson says any student can qualify.

A scholarship will be given every year and each student can renew their scholarship for a total of 1,000 dollars for four years.

After being a part of education themselves, James and Ollie Pearson have decided to give a kid at this school a four year scholarship and an opportunity to pursue further education.

Pearson once was a math and science teacher at Lexington High School.

“We're just very appreciative to the Pearsons for what they’ve done for our students and excited this is kind of a different kind of scholarship one that follows them through," says Atchison

Ten percent of the investment any year will always go back into the program itself.

Although this is only the first year of the scholarship, the Pearsons say they hope their scholarship fund will grow and don't plan for it to ever end.