For the Miami Valley Today

TROY — Kendall Ferrill had one hope when her son, Jonathan Lewis, was vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.

“The main purpose was to keep him healthy and try to keep those around him healthy,” said Ferrill, whose son is a junior at Troy High School and the Upper Valley Career Center. “We really didn’t have any hopes other than that.”

Tuesday, however, Ferrill and her son found out getting vaccinated also resulted in her son being awarded a $10,000 college scholarship through the Ohio Department of Health and Ohio Lottery’s Vax-2-School program.

According to the Ohio Department of Health, “Ohio Vax-2-School is a public outreach campaign consisting of a series of statewide drawings to increase awareness of the availability and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and provide incentives to younger Ohioans to get a COVID-19 vaccination.”

Ferrill said her son is thriving at the UVCC, where he is in the landscaping program.

“He has really excelled there,” she said. “His grades have been phenomenal, and he’s really been engaged in learning.”

With solid grades and now a $10,000 scholarship in hand, Ferrill said she and Jonathan are excited about the opportunities he now has.

“We are going to sit down with his guidance counselor and see what his best options are now,” Ferrill said. “We know the scholarship is good for a trade school, community college or university in Ohio. Things are kind of wide open for him now because of this. He’s in the landscaping program, but he may want to go to college and study business management so he can go into business for himself. We are really excited about this opportunity.”