Scholarship winner's PSA about organization with personal connection

SPRINGFIELD TWP., Ohio (WKBN) - The Tom Holden Memorial Scholarship Contest carries on a former news anchor's mission of helping students. Local students entered the contest by writing Public Service Announcements about non-profit organizations.

This year's winner came from a Hubbard student who shared a subject close to her heart.

Mia King wrote a PSA for a school project about Pink Lights the Way.

"I want people to be more aware of the help that there is in our community for people that have breast cancer," she said.

King had learned about the organization from her teacher, Megan Schellhorn, who was diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago, just after her 39th birthday. Schellhorn, the co-founder of Pink Lights the Way, has three children.

"It's really meaningful to me to see a mom interacting with her kids, and to have the support of a breast cancer survivor, that kind of steps into your story," Schellhorn said.

King's writing included the impact that breast cancer can have on a family. It was how she chose to extend the mission of Pink Lights The Way.

"A very sentimental feel, it touched people's hearts to get them a more personal feel," King said.

King's work won her a $1,500 scholarship. She's going to Akron to study aerospace engineering. Her PSA shared the work that Pink Lights The Way can provide to women handling a difficult situation.

"Our name is really just starting to get out there in the community, and I just feel like this PSA is going to be an amazing way for women with breast cancer to know that there's support out there for them," Schellhorn said.

Schellhorn was a winner of a Caring for Our Community contest 25 years ago. It led to her teaching career, and now she encourages her students to enter the Tom Holden Memorial Scholarship contest.

You can watch King's winning entry here.

Below are the other runners-up:

• 1^st runner up: Micah Bukovac, Boardman High School
• 2^nd runner up: Kierstin Richoz, Trumbull Career and Technical Center 
• 3^rd runner up: Ethan Magoulick, LaBrae High School
• 4^th runner up: Logan Poulakos, Boardman High School
• 5^th runner up: Katelyn Erme, Boardman High School