The lead-up to Graduation Day for the senior class at Knoxville High School includes Wednesday evening’s Scholarship Night; and most of the current graduates, along with ones from prior years, will be getting financial help for their futures.

The Knoxville Panther Scholarship Foundation will be handing out around $110,000 in scholarship money to eighty students from the Class of 2019; another 89 students from the last three graduating classes will be receiving funds to help with their ongoing education as well.

Curt Froyen from the foundation tells KNIA/KRLS News they will pass the $1 million mark in money distributed to graduates, and now virtually any applicant can get funding from them.

“We are at the point right now where not only every high school graduate receive a scholarship, but also all of our second year and third year and fourth year students who apply for scholarships are receiving at least one.

“And I would say probably seventy percent of those students are receiving two scholarships to help them with their expenses in their second, third and fourth year of education,” Froyen says.

For the applicants, there’s only one requirement; the Knoxville Panther Scholarship Foundation expects each recipient to send a thank-you letter to the donors before the funds are released to their school.

The evening will also see a number of private donors presenting scholarships; families, businesses and other organizations will also have funds to present to the graduating class and others who qualify.

Scholarship Night will be at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday evening at the K-PAC.