Foundation awards 12 Roadway Worker Memorial Scholarships for 2024-2025

Foundation awards 12 Roadway Worker Memorial Scholarships for 2024-2025

Winners include four new recipients, two Chuck Bailey Memorial Scholarships

The ATSS Foundation awarded Roadway Worker Memorial Scholarships to 12 students for the 2024-25 academic year.

The Roadway Worker Memorial Scholarship program began in 2002 to provide financial assistance for post-high school education to dependents of roadway workers killed or permanently disabled in work zones. The program is competitive, and students can earn up to $10,000 per academic year. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than 135 Roadway Worker Memorial Scholarships. Additionally, more than 25 Chuck Bailey Memorial Scholarships valued at $1,000 each have been awarded to applicants who have shown a dedication to volunteerism. Chuck Bailey was an esteemed member of the roadway safety industry who passed away in 2002.

“The goal of the program is to help dependents of workers killed or permanently disabled in a work zone incident navigate a path forward,” said Foundation Director Lori Diaz.

This year’s awards go to four first-time recipients: Christopher Fletcher, Chris Hutt, Taylor Lingafelter and Mary Sollars. New applicant Taylor Lingafelter is also one of the two Chuck Bailey Scholarship recipients.

James Beard
Highland, Ill.

James will be a junior at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville where he is studying construction management. While carrying a full-time class load, James works part-time and is active in community service projects through his fraternity, Kappa Sigma. James was 8 years old in 2012 when his father, Dennis, was struck by a vehicle reportedly speeding. He was setting up a lane closure on Interstate 64 near Fairview Heights, Ill. Dennis Beard worked for Brightway Striping Services Inc. James’ sister, Tessa, also received a scholarship for the 2024-25 academic year. James is one of two recipients of the Chuck Bailey Scholarship.

 

Tessa Beard
Highland, Ill.

Tessa is working toward a master’s degree in social work at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville where she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in criminal justice. When not taking classes or focusing on internships, Tessa raises her twin sons, born during the summer of 2021. Tessa was 11 years old in 2012 when her father, Dennis, was struck by a vehicle reportedly speeding. He was setting up a lane closure on Interstate 64 near Fairview Heights, Il. Dennis Beard worked for Brightway Striping Services Inc. Tessa’s brother, James, also received a scholarship.

 

 

Christopher Fletcher
Perrysville, Ohio

Christopher is preparing for his second year of the Master of Architecture program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Christopher works part-time for an architecture firm and assists with community service organizations like Habitat for Humanity. Christopher’s father, Forest John Fletcher, was killed in 2012 after being struck by a truck while supervising a bridge work zone near Fremont, Ohio.  He worked for the Ohio Turnpike Commission.

 

 

Chris Hutt
Cleveland, Tenn.

Chris will be a freshman year at the University of Tennessee Knoxville where he will pursue a chemical engineering degree. Chris’s father, Christopher Hutt, was killed in 2006–two months before Chris’s birth–in Indianapolis, Ind., while erecting a speed limit sign in a work zone for his employer, United Rentals. Chris’s sister, Katie, also received a scholarship for the 2024-25 academic year.

 

 

Katie Hutt
Cleveland, Tenn

Katie will be a senior studying architecture at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. She works part-time with a full-time course load and is involved in multiple community service initiatives, including cleaning out river bays and flowerbeds at the Knoxville Zoo. Her father, Christopher, was killed in 2006 when she was years old. He was installing a speed limit sign when two speeding cars crashed in the work zone and subsequently struck him. He worked for United Rentals. Katie’s brother, Chris, also received a scholarship for the 2024-25 academic year.

 

 

Mariela Lara
Long Beach, Calif.

Mariela will be a senior at California State University Long Beach where she studies environmental science and policy. She completed an internship with a nonprofit that helps low-income families get healthy food and assists with Environmental Science and Policy Club events such as beach clean ups and sustainability fairs. Mariela was 14 years old in 2015 when her father, Adan, was killed. He was clearing a road in preparation for an El Nino storm when he was struck by a motorist. He worked for Ventura County Public Works Agency.

 

 

Taylor Lingafelter
Sullivan, Ill.

Taylor will attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to study biology and medical science with the goal of a career as a dentist. Outside of her dedication to her academic studies, Taylor is also heavily involved in extra-curricular and volunteer activities. She assists regularly with the local Red Cross and worked to establish a Red Cross club at her high school. Taylor lost her father, Lewis Lingafelter, in 2005 when he was killed in a work zone while taking retro-reflectivity readings for Applied Research Associates. Taylor also received one of the two Chuck Bailey Scholarships.

 

 

Leah McCance
Broken Arrow, Okla.

Leah will be a sophomore studying elementary education at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee. She is passionate about music, plays trumpet, was drum major for her high school band and volunteers at her church. Leah was 2 years old in 2007 when her father, Joshua, was killed while doing highway maintenance for an Oklahoma Department of Transportation contractor, CP Integrated Services Inc. A motorist swerved across lanes and onto the shoulder, striking him and then his work truck.

 

 

Sydney Parsons
Wenatchee, Wash.

Sydney studies at Lower Columbia College in Longview, Wash., to take prerequisite courses to become a nurse. Sydney works full time as an EMT in Wenatchee, Wash., and volunteers with multiple local organizations, including planning Red Cross blood drives. She was 12 years old in 2016 when her father, Brandon, was permanently disabled in a paving crew incident while working for Lakeside Industries. A motorist went around a pilot car and crashed into the paver and her father.

 

 

Alex Perez
Indianapolis, Ind.

Alex will be a junior studying computer science at Indiana University Bloomington. He hopes to specialize in software development or artificial intelligence and attributes his love of computers and video games to building his first computer at age 9 with his uncle. In 2018, Alex had just turned 14 and was attending his first day of high school when his father, Julian, was struck by a car in a Michigan work zone where he was testing new locating equipment. Julian died the next day. He worked for Digital Control Inc.

 

 

Megan Pirelli
Chicago, Ill.

Megan attends the Chamberlain University College of Nursing in Chicago, pursuing a degree in nursing with a focus on trauma care. She plans to attend graduate school and become a nurse anesthetist. Megan works at Chamberlain’s open lab where she coaches younger nursing students. Megan was 20 years old in 2020 when her father, Mark, was struck and killed by a vehicle in a work zone on Interstate 80 in Wyanet, Ill. He worked for RoadSafe Traffic Safety Inc.

 

 

Mary Sollars
Rocky River, Ohio

Mary plans to attend Elon University in North Carolina on a partial track scholarship where she will study marketing and business. Outside of school, Mary stays busy volunteering, working a part-time job and tutoring a junior high student. Mary’s father, David Sollars, was killed in 2019 while striping a roadway for TraffTech in Cleveland, Ohio, when a vehicle entered the work zone and struck him and another worker.

 

 

Learn more about Roadway Worker Memorial Scholarship recipients in their own words.