From Staff Reports

PELHAM – As part of its continuing commitment to the communities it serves, SouthWest Water Company has announced cash scholarships for four graduating high school students in Shelby County who plan to make engineering their main course of study in college.

The scholarship recipients are high school seniors who have been accepted to attend an accredited four-year college or university degree program with the intent to major in environmental science, environmental engineering or general engineering curriculum.

The recipients have demonstrated academic achievements during their high school careers and also have achieved an exemplary record of community service and participation in school extracurricular activities.

SouthWest Water Company Managing Director Craig Sorensen said that SouthWest Water Company feels the need to help upcoming leaders in this important field.

“Water is our most valuable resource and, as a company responsible for protecting that resource, we want to encourage the next generation of leaders in the engineering field,” Sorensen said. “This is an outstanding group of graduates this year and we are excited to announce these SouthWest Water Company scholarship winners.”

The recipients, each of whom will receive a $1,000 scholarship from SouthWest Water Company, are Wyatt Edward Mercer, of Birmingham and Oak Mountain High School, who will study aerospace engineering at Auburn University; Halle Hoagland, of Birmingham and Spain Park High School, who will study chemical engineering at Auburn University; Heath James Nunn, of Birmingham and Briarwood Christian School, who will study engineering at Auburn University; and Gracyn LeSueur of Pelham and Pelham High School, who will study biomedical engineering at Mississippi State University.

In Alabama, SouthWest Water Company owns and operates water treatment and reclamation facilities across the Birmingham Metropolitan area. Nationwide, their utility subsidiaries own and operate regulated water and wastewater treatment systems serving over half a million residential and business customers in six states: Alabama, California, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina and Texas.

SouthWest Water Company strongly believes that with water comes responsibility. The company is very active and involved in its communities. Adopt-A-Highway, Adopt-A-Stream, The ARC of Shelby County, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boy Scouts, Rotary, SafeHouse and the United Way are just a few of the civic and charitable organizations SouthWest Water Company supports.