Two local grads awarded over $10,000 each from Bettye Smith Brown Memorial Scholarship

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Two local high school graduates have been selected to receive the Bettye Smith Brown Memorial Scholarship presented by the NAACP Vicksburg Chapter. Olivia Osborne and Teyanna Monroe have each been awarded over $10,000 to be applied toward their college education.

The scholarship was established by Adrienne Mosley and Fayedra Brown-Dear in loving honor of their mother, Ms. Bettye Smith Brown, who was a champion of higher education, proud native of Vicksburg and dedicated member of the NAACP Vicksburg branch.

Ms. Brown selflessly raised her daughters in the Christian faith with a respect for education, independence, kindness and service. Despite her limited financial resources, she supported her daughters to attend the colleges of their choice and to excel. 

The sisters attribute their success to their mother and felt that there would be no better way to honor her memory than to help remove barriers to education and empowerment for future generations through a scholarship fund.

Today, the first-ever recipients of the Bettye Smith Brown Memorial Scholarship, Teyanna Monroe and Olivia Osborne, accepted their awards.  Monroe and Osborne each received $10,712.50 toward continuing their education.

Teyanna Monroe graduated Valedictorian of her class at Warren Central High School with a 4.729 GPA and will attend the University of Southern Mississippi to study forensic science and chemistry.

Olivia Osborne, also a proud Viking, graduated with honors and ranked 12th in the class of 225 students. She will be attending the University of Southern Mississippi this fall.