Over 40 Graduating Alton Seniors Receive Local Scholarships From Community Donors

ALTON - Over 40 Alton High School seniors received local scholarships during a special awards night.

On Thursday, May 7, 2026, Alton Community Unit School District #11 families came together to celebrate the 41 graduating seniors who were awarded scholarships. Dr. Jordan Anderson, who helped organize the night, shared that these scholarships will give a boost to students as they embark on their next chapters.

“It’s just really amazing to see our community invest in the future of our community,” Anderson said. “Looking at where some of our students are going off to school and what they’re going to be studying, they can come back to this area and then invest what they’ve learned into continuing to make Alton such a great place.”

Anderson noted that many Alton students have also received scholarships through their universities, and plenty of others have equally impressive achievements. But this night was specifically to recognize students who received scholarships from local organizations.

The Alton Educational Foundation was a major contributor. This organization helps retired teachers set up scholarships or families create memorial scholarships.

There are also many Alton alumni who decide to “pay it forward” and help the next generation with a scholarship. Still other students receive scholarships courtesy of local businesses or organizations.

Students were encouraged to apply for these scholarships throughout the school year. Next year, there will be a “scholarship database” available to AHS students that compiles all of these local scholarship opportunities.

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During the awards night on May 7, Anderson was pleased to see so much excitement in the crowd. She loves watching the seniors succeed.

“Graduation season is probably my favorite time of year, just because you get to see the excitement in kids’ eyes,” she said. “Not only are they closing a chapter on something that they’ve invested their whole childhood into, but they’re very, very excited about the next thing they’re going to go do and these plans that they’ve made for their lives. And so that excitement is very real and palpable here throughout the building.”

Anderson added that the graduates walk a balance between “childlike joy” and “taking themselves very, very seriously” in the weeks leading up to graduation, but it’s a lot of fun to see them receive recognition for “all the hard work they put in” during the awards night.

The event was a bit surreal for Anderson herself, who served as an assistant principal at the elementary level when she first joined Alton School District. This year’s graduating class was in fifth grade during her first year.

She said it’s “very heartwarming” for all of the teachers, staff and administrators to see this class graduate, as they’ve all come to know and care for the students.

It’s also powerful to see so many local people and organizations giving back to the students. Anderson noted there are memorial scholarships in the names of her old colleagues, grants that honor alumni, and plenty of local business owners or nonprofit leaders who decide to give back. To her, these local scholarships emphasize the community’s connection to the district.

“We say the phrase all the time, ‘Once a Redbird, always a Redbird.’ But this night and watching these families still have these connections, it just really kind of hits home,” she said. “We really do take that very seriously, that once you're here and once you're a Redbird and one of us, you're always going to be one of us. We want to help make that connection to where you can invest in the students who are currently here.”

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This Featured Article is sponsored by Alton Community Unit School District #11. To get your business or organization featured on www.RiverBender.com, contact us at sales@riverbender.com.

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