The Electronic Security Association (ESA) has presented two children of police officers and fire fighters with $10,000 in scholarships through its annual Youth Scholarship Program.

Each year, the scholarship recipients are chosen on a combination of academic achievement, national test scores, extracurricular participation and an essay competition.

Claire Williams of Greenfield, Ind., whose father is the lieutenant with the Buck Creek Township volunteer fired department, was awarded the $7,500 top prize.

Kristian Maples of Gatlinburg, Tenn., was awarded second place and received a $2,500 scholarship. Maples’ father is captain of the Gatlinburg Police Department.

Both recipients received an additional $1,000 from the Indiana and Tennessee Burglar & Fire Alarm Associations, respectively.

Students who reside in states without a chartered ESA chapter or in a state with a nonparticipating state association submit their applications directly to ESA. Among the group of applicants, one is awarded $1,000 and selected to compete against the state winners as the national nominee. This year’s national nominee was Amanda Watson, a senior at William J. Palmer High School in Colorado Springs, Colo.

As many as 14 chapters participated in the scholarship program. This year, more than $40,000 was awarded to 29 students across the nation. Since its inception in 1996, the ESA and its affiliated state chapters have awarded more than $300,000 in scholarships.

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