<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Three recent high school graduates on Tuesday received scholarships totaling $4,000 from the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury’s Human Services Housing Program and the Louisiana Housing Council.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Jayla Pete, Naya Slaughter and Ty’janae Green were awarded the scholarships. Pete received $2,000, Green received $1,500 and Slaughter received $500. The scholarships are given annually to high school graduates who are on one of the subsidized housing programs administered by the Police Jury.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“It provides a head start for them,” said Tarek Polite, parish human services director. “It also provides the opportunity to potentially break the cycle of being on a subsidized housing program and gives the person the motivation to maybe do better.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">He said the money mainly comes from private donations by homeowners who rent their units on the parish’s housing program.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Green, a graduate of Washington-Marion Magnet High School, said she will attend the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She said she wants to become a neonatal nurse.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Green’s mother, Karin Goodwin, said her daughter “has come a long way.” Polite said Goodwin is the Police Jury’s first client to transition from Section 8 assistance to homeownership. “I’m very proud of her, and I want to see her go even further,” Goodwin said.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Pete graduated from Iowa High School and will also attend ULL. Slaughter also graduated from Washington-Marion and was accepted to three universities: Dillard University, Grambling State University and Alabama University. She plans to major in biology.</span>

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