NEWKIRK — Newkirk Main Street has announced that two of its Jed Cord students, Kaitlynn Bloomfield and Madison Eubank, have graduated and received their Jed Cords to wear at graduation and were awarded with small scholarships to the college or university of their choice.
Doug Hartley, father of Jed Hartley and Newkirk Main Street representative, Nancy Chaney presented the students with their scholarship certificates and cords at the Senior Assembly held in the Newkirk High School commons on May 8.
Twenty-one years ago, Jed Hartley was one of four Newkirk Middle School students who formed Newkirk Junior Main Street with the purpose of making Newkirk a better place to live.
Jed’s Legacy Cord was named in honor of Hartley and his enthusiastic and dependable sense of volunteerism.
After Hartley graduated from high school, he volunteered to serve his country by joining the United States Army.
Hartley served two tours in Iraq and was admired by his fellow soldiers for his sense of humor, his work ethic, and volunteerism. On his last tour in Iraq, he lost his life in an IED explosion while escorting a convoy, a duty that he volunteered for after originally joining the military as a mechanic.
Jed’s Cord students volunteer twenty-five hours for each year during their high school career to qualify to receive a cord to wear with their graduation gown and qualify for a scholarship. High school students involved in Jed’s Cord are admired and commended for volunteering to serve the community through Newkirk Main Street.