SPRINGFIELD — Bella Teston, Mariah Goodman and Evyn Wimmer were recognized as Effingham County’s second class of REACH Georgia scholars before Thursday’s Effingham County Board of Education meeting. 

REACH Georgia is a needs-based mentoring and scholarship program that provides promising students the support to graduate from high school and achieve postsecondary success.

The REACH Georgia Scholarship “rewards students for self-accountability, promotes parent involvement and provides motivation and support; all factors that we know are critical in student educational achievement,” said Gov. Nathan Deal at the Feb. 6, 2012, launch of the program.

“These students, when they graduate at the end of high school, will receive a $10,000 scholarship to go to any four-year, two-year or vocational/technical school,” said Wendy Porter, curriculum director for the Effingham County School District, “but they must maintain a 2.5 GPA, they must meet Effingham County’s attendance policy and maintain good discipline, and be drug free for the next four years.”

Teston (Ebenezer Middle School), Goodman (Effingham County Middle School) and Wimmer (South Effingham Middle School) — chosen at the start of their eighth-grade year —  will be paired with a mentor in high school who models positive behavior and provides the student with knowledge, advice, guidance and support related to education and beyond.