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The S. Delois Mayes Scholarship Foundation awarded a total of $8,500 in scholarships this year.

The scholarships consisted of one Rosie Ellis-Fields Medical Scholarship in the amount of $2,500 and three general scholarships of $2,000 each.

Wayne Cochran was the recipient of the Rosie Ellis-Fields Medical Scholarship. He is a Nansemond River High School graduate and plans to attend Norfolk State University.

• The three general recipients were:
• Austin Bradshaw, a Lakeland High School graduate who plans to attend Virginia Tech.
• Landon Martino, a King’s Fork High School graduate.
• Antonio Perez Jr., a Nansemond River High School graduate who plans to attend Old Dominion University.

The S. Delois Mayes Scholarship Foundation was established in 2013 as a memorial to Shontoyia “Toyia” Delois Mayes, an extraordinary young woman who lost her life in a car accident in 2002. Toyia moved to Virginia in 1997 from Los Angeles, Calif., to attend college at Old Dominion University. Despite numerous obstacles, Toyia graduated from Old Dominion University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 2000.

Education was extremely important to Toyia, and she pursued it vigorously in an effort to position herself to assist others. Her dream was to write a book as a platform to reach out to teenagers and young adults who may have faced obstacles similar to those she faced and to encourage them to persevere and pursue their education. These same ideals shape the mission of the S. Delois Mayes Scholarship Foundation. The Foundation’s goal is to annually grant scholarship awards to seniors from the three public high schools in Suffolk.