By PHOEBE DONALD ROBINSON / Community Columnist

“Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe,” said H.G. Wells in “The Outline of History.”

This quote is on the home page of the new youth group of high school juniors who are residents of Shelby County, the Shelby Sentinels Youth Ambassador Program.

A sentinel is by definition a “soldier or guard whose job is to stand and keep watch.”

The Sentinels were established by the Leadership Class of 2015 to be ambassadors of the Shelby County Historical Society.

The Sentinels attended Shelby County’s 197th birthday celebration as their first official ambassador event.

The Sentinels are required to volunteer five community service hours and attend one or two educations programs.

Recently they attended an educational, historic program at American Village.

Students will also develop a digital presentation about the history of Shelby County, topic of their choice.

They may use Prezis, PowerPoints, documentaries or visual tours, and the presentations will compete for a $1,000 scholarship.

The group may also develop flyers of the Shelby County Historical Association and/or county.

All the presentations will be downloaded to the Shelby County Historical Society website. All Shelby Sentinels will receive membership into the Shelby County Historical Society, Bobby Joe Seales, president.

Eight high school juniors were chosen after an extensive application process.

Applicants wrote a 250-word essay sharing how a historical event impacted their life.

They also completed an extensive application form including school, work and community service.

Two recommendations, one from the student’s history teacher and one from non-related community member, were required.

The Sentinels were chosen by representatives of businesses, education and historical society.

The 2015 Shelby Sentinels chosen are: Riley Brasher, Vincent High School; Lyric Buxton, Oak Mountain High School; Endia Harris, Calera High School; Samuel McDonnell, Calera High School; Anna Rourke, Oak Mountain High School; Hannah Kate Stallo, Calera High School; Jim Vick, Shelby County High School; Luke Walker, Chelsea High School; Kendall Thornburg, Shelby County High School; and Jada Harris, Vincent High School.

For information and application form for future Shelby Sentinels programs, see Shelbysentinels.com or email Shelbysentinel@outlook.com.