Contributed Photo _ Hannah Housley, a part-time city employee, has been awarded a State Parks & Recreation Association scholarship to continue her studies at UTC.
East Ridge part-time employee Hannah Housley has been awarded one of the Tennessee Recreation and Parks Association scholarships for 2016.
The Bearden High School graduate is a rising senior at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and has been helping with the East Ridge Parks and Recreation department since May of this year.
“I don’t know how I won, but I’m ecstatic,” Ms. Housley said. “I will accept the scholarship at the Tennessee Parks and Recreation Conference in Kingsport on Wednesday.”
East Ridge Parks and Recreation Director Stump Martin said he wasn’t surprised Ms. Housley was selected for the scholarship.
“We have thrown Hannah into some tough situations since she has been with us at East Ridge and she has responded very well,” Martin said. “She has had to step between angry coaches and has also had to deal with mad mothers at least once since her arrival in East Ridge. The thing impressive about Hannah is that she has turned negatives into positives.”
Martin said Ms. Housley organized and hosted a free cheerleading camp for the East Ridge recreational cheerleaders with the help of the high school cheerleading squad in August.
“The camp led to the largest turnout of cheerleaders for football that we’ve ever had,” Martin said. “The kids love her. I’m proud of her for earning the scholarship and it’s also a positive for East Ridge Parks and Recreation.”
To be considered for the scholarship the applicant had to be enrolled as a full-time student in an accredited four-year institution or university within the state of Tennessee that has a curriculum in a recreation and/or parks field.
The applicant must have a declared major and/or concentration in a recreation/parks field: Health and Human Performance, Recreation, Resource Management, Leisure Studies, Turf Management, or Forestry.
In addition, the student must have a minimum 2.75 cumulative GPA with a minimum 3.0 major GPA in the recreation and/or parks major, verified by attached transcript.
Hanna’s father Dan Housley is a former UTC football player, and her mother, Judy Housley, is a loss control consultant for the Tennessee Municipal League.
