ATSS Foundation awards nine scholarships for 2025-26 academic year

ATSS Foundation awards nine scholarships for 2025-26 academic year

The ATSS Foundation awarded Roadway Worker Memorial Scholarships to nine students for the upcoming academic year, including the third of Dennis Beard’s children.

Beard, 38, was setting up a lane closure on Interstate 64 in Fairview Heights, Ill., for Brightway Striping Services Inc. on May 22, 2012, when he was struck and killed by a speeding vehicle.

His daughter Tessa was the first of his children to receive this competitive scholarship, which provides financial assistance for post-high school education to the children or spouses of roadway workers killed or permanently disabled in a work zone incident.

“Roadway Worker Memorial Scholarships are designed to help pave a path for a brighter future for the children and families that have endured the tragedy of a work zone crash,” said ATSS Foundation Director Lori Diaz. “This is one of the Foundation programs that touches the heart of everyone who plays a role in it.”

Tessa Beard received scholarships as an undergraduate and in graduate school and is now engaged in a social work internship and is slated to complete her master’s degree later this month.  Her siblings, James and Alayna, are among this year’s recipients of a Roadway Worker Memorial Scholarship.

Alayna was 3 years old when her father was killed. She will be starting college in the fall and is the only first-time recipient among the nine students receiving a scholarship for the upcoming academic year. Alayna will be attending Missouri State University in Springfield, Mo., where she will begin studies to become a physician assistant.

James was 8 years old when his father was killed. He works part-time while attending Southwestern Illinois College to become an electrician. This will be his fourth year receiving the scholarship.

Roadway Worker Memorial Scholarships are awarded annually for amounts up to $10,000. Students who demonstrate a strong commitment to volunteerism also can apply for a Chuck Bailey Memorial Scholarship, valued at $1,000.

 

 

 

The following seven students also received a Roadway Worker Memorial Scholarship for the 2025-26 academic year.

Chris Hutt Jr.

Cleveland, Tenn.

Chris Hutt Jr. will be a sophomore at the University of Tennessee Knoxville where he is studying chemical engineering. His father, Christopher Hutt, was killed in 2006 before Chris was born. His father was installing a speed limit sign as an employee of United Rentals when two speeding cars collided in the work zone before striking him. Chris Jr. and his sister Katie are recipients of the Roadway Worker Memorial Scholarship this year. Their older sister, Cameron, was a scholarship recipient before graduating from college in 2022 and beginning a career in public relations.

 

Katie Hutt

Cleveland, Tenn.

Katie Hutt will be a senior at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where she is studying architecture. She juggles a full-time course load and a part-time job and has been involved in a philanthropic effort to restore a pre-Civil War cemetery in East Knoxville. Katie was 3 years old in 2006 when her father, Christopher Hutt, was killed while installing a speed limit sign as an employee of United Rentals. Two speeding cars collided in the work zone before striking him.

 

Mariela Lara

Long Beach, Calif.

Mariela Lara will be a senior at California State University in Long Beach studying environmental science and policy. She recently completed an internship with a nonprofit focused on providing healthy food to low-income families and has started working part-time. Mariela was 14 years old in 2015 when her father, Adan Lara, was killed while clearing a road in preparation for an El Niño storm. He was struck by a motorist while working for the Ventura County (Calif.) Public Works Agency.

 

Taylor Lingafelter

Sullivan, Ill.

Taylor Lingafelter will be a sophomore at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville where she is pursuing a degree in biology with a focus on medical science.  In 2005, months before Taylor was born, her father, Lewis Lingafelter Jr., was killed in a work zone crash. He was taking retroreflectivity readings for Applied Research Associates on the Tri-State Tollway in the Chicago suburbs when a tractor-trailer collided with a tollway truck, which then struck him.

 

Sydney Parsons

Wenatchee, Wash.

Sydney Parsons will be a junior at Central Washington University where she is studying to become a paramedic. She works full time as an EMT in Wenatchee, Wash., and enjoys hunting in her free time. In 2016, when Sydney was 12 years old, her father, Brandon Parsons, was permanently disabled in a paving crew incident while working for Lakeside Industries. A motorist bypassed the pilot car and collided with the paver and her father.

 

Alex Perez

Indianapolis, Ind.

Alex Perez will be a junior at Indiana University Bloomington where he is majoring in computer science. He plans to work part-time while pursuing his studies and credits his passion for technology and video games to building his first computer at age 9 with his uncle. Alex was 14 years old in 2018 when his father was fatally struck by a car while testing new locating equipment in a Michigan work zone. Julian Perez worked for Digital Control Inc.

 

Mary Sollars

Rocky River, Ohio

Mary Sollars will be a sophomore at Elon University where she is pursuing a degree in finance and accounting. Mary is an NCAA Division I track and field athlete and involved in volunteer activities through her track team and the Business Fellows program.  Mary was 12 years old in 2019 when her father, David Sollars, died from injuries sustained after being struck by a vehicle while working on the Cedar Road Reconstruction Project managed by the Department of Public Works. David was employed by TraffTech Inc. Mary’s brother, Ethan, is a past recipient of the Roadway Worker Memorial Scholarship.