FRANKLIN—The 2012 Donna C. McCullough Chamber scholarship has been awarded to Savannah Grace Francis, who in June graduated third in her class out of 180 students at Southampton High School.

The daughter of Joey and Susan Francis, she will attend Virginia Tech.

Francis maintained a 4.56 grade-point average. She was secretary for the Key Club and president of the Christian Club, a student government association representative in ninth through 12th grades and a member of the National Honor Society and Health Careers Club.

In her junior year she represented Southampton High School at Virginia Girls State. She was a district finalist for the Harry F. Byrd Leadership Award, and as a sophomore and junior, was honored by the Virginian-Pilot Scholastic Achievement Scholarship and Recognition Program.

Francis has assisted Habitat for Humanity at the Re-Store, packed toys for the social services toy distribution and assisted with summer workshops for Kids’ College at Paul D. Camp Community College. She helped repair and construct homes for underprivileged families through Impact VA! and has served with the Sycamore Baptist Church mission group, World Changers, since 2006.

Francis is a frequent American Red Cross blood donor and served as SHS student captain this year for the local Relay for Life.

In 2010 she participated in the Susan G. Komen Three-Day for the Cure event and raised $2,800 toward finding a cure for breast cancer.

The scholarship has been presented annually since 1995 to a graduating senior from the Franklin-Southampton community. In 2004, upon McCullough’s retirement as the Chamber executive director, the scholarship was renamed in her honor.