Chuck Jenkins has made it a personal priority that students in his district get some of the Dixie Youth scholarship money.

And the Mississippi Dixie Youth District 6 director hasn’t disappointed. In the past two years, six children have received the $2,000 national Dixie Youth Scholarship — three of them in his district, which includes Natchez.

The national Dixie Youth organization collects $1 extra at the gate of each postseason tournament throughout the South to go toward 70 $2,000 scholarships. High school seniors who played in at least one season of Dixie Youth ball are eligible for the scholarship, which is awarded based on ACT scores, grades, family income and an essay contest.

“Since I’ve been director, we haven’t gotten a whole lot of scholarships in the area,” Jenkins said. “I took it upon myself to make sure the guidance counselors at our schools know that Dixie Youth gives out scholarships. The more (applicants) we put in, the more scholarships we can get. South Carolina, for example, puts in a lot, and they get more money, because they get more applicants.”

This past Monday, recent Cathedral High School graduate Colton Webb was awarded the $2,000 national scholarship, and Webb said he received a couple of reminders to apply.

“(Cathedral guidance counselor Penny) Daggett sent out a weekly newsletter, and I already knew about it because (Natchez Dixie Youth Director) Porky (Smith) had told me about it.”

Now that he has $2,000 to go toward his college tuition at Ole Miss, Webb said he’s grateful there were people like Jenkins and Smith to help promote the availability of the scholarship to youth in the area.

“It’s definitely going to help a lot, since tuition is a lot of money,” Webb said. “With $2,000, that’s a good bit, and it will help me not have to pay it off in student loans after college.”

In addition to the national scholarship, a $300 state scholarship is also available. Those who aren’t selected for the national scholarship are put in a pool for the state scholarship, Jenkins said.

“Out of those, I’ll pick two from the area that didn’t get the national (scholarship),” Jenkins said.

Smith said he’s been very impressed with Jenkins’ effort to notify local students about the scholarship money that’s available.

“He does a great job talking to the schools in District 6,” Smith said. “Someone is beating the bush for these kids, and Chuck does a great job with that, along with our local people. We do a great job trying to get in touch with the guidance counselors and having kids fill out applications.”

Jenkins stressed that anyone who played just one year of Dixie Youth ball — even girls who played tee ball locally when they were younger — can apply for the scholarship.

“It only takes on year of tee ball,” Jenkins said. “If a girl participated, she can apply for the scholarship.”