The scholarship is designed to benefit students who come from Fentress County, especially those who are working toward completing STEM degrees.
Roane State Community College has a new scholarship available thanks to an endowment established by the Garrett family in honor of their parents, Gaston and Janet Garrett. The Gaston and Janet Garrett Family Scholarship Endowment will benefit students, especially those studying STEM, who come from Fentress County, the Garrett family’s longtime home.
The Garrett family has always found education to be paramount in life, and the family always placed a large focus on the importance of going to college. Gaston and Janet had six children: Christopher, Patrick, Keith, David, Priscilla, and Susan. Of the six, five went on to earn college degrees.
According to an article on Roane State Community College’s website, Patrick Garrett was quoted as saying, “Having an education is not only important to an individual, but to their family and in turn the entire community. Knowledge is power. And our parents would be thrilled to know a scholarship endowment had been set up in their name to help others in Fentress County receive a good education.”
Roane State Community College currently has a campus located in Clarkrange in Fentress County, but another one, the Fentress County Higher Education Center, is currently being built in Jamestown. That building will be shared with TCAT Oneida, and will be open in the fall of 2025. The new education center being built in Fentress County is partly what inspired the Garretts to establish a scholarship for students in the area.
“We feel it is the perfect opportunity for our citizens to step up and get involved in helping our community prosper,” said Patrick.
Patrick, Christopher, and David would like to encourage other Garretts and other community members to donate to the endowment in their parents’ honor, which can be done through the Roane State Foundation.
Scott Niermann, the executive director of Roane State Foundation, was quoted as saying, “The importance of a strong community and a good quality education was instilled in the Garrett children from a young age. Their parents believed in hard work, strong ethics, and commitment to community, and their children wish to carry on that tradition through this scholarship.”
For more information about Roane State Community College, visit the school’s website.