DULUTH, Ga.—National Vision Inc. has selected five outstanding students as recipients of the 2016 National Vision Inc. College Scholarship Program. Each recipient will receive $2,500 to use toward advancing their education. The award is renewable for up to three years for a total scholarship of $10,000 per student.

“We are proud to continue to provide this important scholarship and want to congratulate this year’s winners on their impressive accomplishments thus far,” said National Vision chief executive officer Reade Fahs. “All five winners have already achieved great things in their academic careers, and we are proud to support them in furthering their education.”

Awards are selected based on applicants’ past academic performance, future potential, leadership participation within their school and community activities, work experience, their statement of career and educational aspirations along with their goals, unusual personal or family circumstances, according to National Vision. An outside appraisal from Scholarship America, the nation’s leading scholarship program administrator, also is used in the review of applicants.

National Vision’s scholarship program is open to all students whose parents are employed by National Vision at one of its more than 900 retail locations, three labs or its RSC. Established in 2006, the program has awarded a total of $272,500 in scholarships to 40 students since its inception. Applicants must be high school seniors or graduates who plan to enroll for the first time at an accredited two- or four-year college or university.

The recipients of the 2016 National Vision Inc. College Scholarship Program are:

• Haley Clark, daughter of National Vision Retail Support Center (RSC) employee Gregg Robinson, lives in St. Peters, Mo., and is a graduate of Francis Howell Central High School.

• Ramonah Gibson, daughter of National Vision RSC employee Francis Gibson, resides in Grayson, Ga., and is a graduate of St. Bernard Preparatory School.

• Jaclyn Hayman, daughter of licensed optician Nathalie Hayman in Deptford, N.J., America’s Best store, is a resident of Cherry Hill, N.J., and is a graduate of Cherry Hill High School East.

• Hailee Silva, daughter of Santa Maria, Calif., Walmart Vision Center assistant manager Bonnie Silva, lives in Santa Maria, Calif., and is a graduate of Ernest Righetti High School.

• Jamison Whitten, daughter of Ogden, Utah America’s Best store manager Hollee Whitten, resides in Farmington, Utah, and is a graduate of Viewmont High School.

Separately, National Vision also demonstrated its focus on the all-important early years in a child’s education, a time when visual health plays a key role in a successful school year. As part of this effort, National Vision provided more than 3,500 School Health Professional Kits to elementary schools across the country.

The kits are intended to be a resource to promote and support school vision screenings. These free kits are helpful tools to make vision screening easier for school health professionals, providing eye charts and disposable occluders, while keeping it fun for students with stickers and interactive takeaways.