The Army Scholarship Foundation announced today the award of seven scholarships to deserving children of United States Army soldiers and veterans and spouses of active duty enlisted soldiers. Scholarships for the upcoming 2007-2007 academic year were awarded to:   Jennifer Cheek of Fayetteville, NC who is attending UNC Greensboro; Jamie Eller of Ft Leonard Wood, MO who is attending the Cox College of Nursing and Sciences in Springfield, MO; Erin Frake of Burke, VA who is attending the University of Virginia; La’Tesha Hinton of Bel Air, MD who is attending Xavier University in New Orleans; and Kathryn Laverty of Coto De Caza, CA who is attending UC Riverside. In addition, a scholarship was awarded to Army spouse Shannon Grover of Spanaway, WA who is attending the University of Phoenix. Mrs. Grover’s husband is deployed from Ft Lewis, WA as a part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The Captain Jennifer Schafer-Odom Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Janay Cheek of Fayetteville, NC who is attending North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro, NC. Jennifer Shafer Odom grew up on a dairy farm in Knoxville, Maryland. After graduating first in her class at Brunswick High School, she entered the U.S. Military Academy and graduated as a member of the Class of 1992. She became an Army aviator and served tours of duty in both the United States and Europe, where she supported both the Kurdish refugee and Bosnia missions. While serving with the 204th Military Intelligence Battalion at Fort Bliss, Texas in 1999, her aircraft was reported missing while flying intelligence and counter drug missions over Columbia, South American. She and her crew were lost.

The Paladin Army Scholarship Foundation was founded in 2001 by members of the USMA Class of 1992 in the spirit of the Academy’s mission to prepare leaders for a lifetime of service to the nation. The Foundation was renamed The Army Scholarship Foundation in 2006. The Foundation provides scholarships to deserving sons and daughters of U.S. Army soldiers and Army veterans, as well as to spouses of serving active duty enlisted soldiers. The Foundation is sustained by the generous donations of its supporters, and tax free donations can be sent to the Army Scholarship Foundation, 6412 Brandon Avenue, Suite 201, Springfield, Virginia 22150.