Champion Energy is committed to supporting our community as we work to power lives and businesses. The Champion Scholars program was created to recognize those that share this commitment. Now in its tenth year, we’re proud to announce that this program has awarded $100,000 in scholarships to 30 deserving students looking to further their education.

This year we received applications from many impressive students across Texas. Applications were evaluated based on academic performance, awards, volunteerism and an essay response to one of the prompts below:

Prompt 1: Reflect on a time when you experienced adversity. Describe what you learned or gained from that experience.

Prompt 2: Describe your plans for the future. If you are awarded this scholarship, how will this money help you accomplish those future plans?

Prompt 3: When we think of a champion, we often think of a person who has beaten all of their competition to win, but “champion” can also be used as a verb meaning “to support or defend.” What is something that you champion in your life? This could be a cause or a person or a belief. Why is it important to you to champion that cause, person or belief?

We are very proud to recognize the Champion Scholars for 2024:

$5,000 Champion Scholars Award

Mahtab Dastur is the recipient of the $5,000 Champion Scholars award. She currently attends Klein High School in Spring, TX.

During Hurricane Harvey, Mahtab and her family lost their home and everything they owned due to severe flooding. As an avid reader, one of Mahtab’s prized possessions was her collection of books that were not able to be recovered due to the storm. She realized in that moment there were several children out in the world who had never felt the joy of reading a book.

This inspired her to find a way to collect books from the community and donate them to international students in need. Mahtab worked closely with her high school librarian to form a plan of how to successfully distribute the books to students in Vietnam. After being turned away from many organizations, they discovered Sunflower Mission, a non-profit organization focused on aiding youth in Vietnam who were looking to send volunteers to help build a school. Together, Mahtab and her librarian overcame the international hurdles of governmental approval, shipping, costs, and even visiting the founder of Sunflower missions. In the end, they were successful in donating 100 books to Sunflower Mission in Vietnam. A few months later, they received pictures of children reading the books in Vietnam.

Fast forward to present day, Mahtab is the founder of Books2Smiles that is a registered non-profit, sending thousands of books around the world.

The summer before starting college, she plans on spending as much time as possible with her family, friends, and community. This includes family visits and traveling to hosting fundraisers and speaking at conferences. Some hobbies Mahtab enjoys are dancing, reading a good book, and chasing adrenaline-pumping activities with her friends. She also is a big fan of drinking chai and watching TV.

Mahtab will attend Rice University and major in Social Policy Analysis on the pre-med track.

Quote from Mahtab:

“I realized that I had the power to positively impact the lives of children across the globe! Community service means giving back, to me it also means giving books to a child halfway across the world. Community service to me had no limits, no boundaries. It was an open, boundless land and I, just a 7th grader from a small town, after losing everything, could run across it and change the world. ”

$3,000 Champion Scholars Award

Sanvia Jones is the recipient of the $3,000 Champion Scholars award. She currently attends Hudson High School in Lufkin, TX.

Sanvia was born in Medan, Indonesia, and raised by her single mother and had family struggles that was challenging for them both financially and emotionally. Sanvia and her mother moved to America in hopes for a better life and more opportunities. Sanvia’s mom taught her to always be kind and to give back to others who are struggling. Her mother inspired her to champion the belief of giving hope and being kinder than how you feel.

Sanvia has worked for Texas Roadhouse and noticed that often the bakers have a ton of leftover bread each day. At the end of her shifts, she would take as much bread as she could and drive to the parts of Lufkin where homeless people were located and pass out bread. She hopes this small act of kindness inspires them to help their fellow neighbors as well. Sanvia and a friend also started a program where they prepare dishes once a month and donate food to those in need.

From a young age, Sanvia knew she wanted to become a doctor, but wasn’t certain on which kind. Inspired by her orthodontist, she has now decided to become a dentist herself with dreams to own a pro bono dentist clinic for those in need. In her free time Sanvia enjoys playing instruments, going to the gym, and cooking food for those in need in her community.

Sanvia will attend the University of Houston and major in Biology. She also intends to go to dental school to become a dentist.

Quote from Sanvia:

“My mom is a living example of kindness, hope, and hard work. She has taught me many very valuable life lessons and instilled determination, independence, and kindness into my everyday routines. I champion trying to become a better person by having a positive attitude, aiding others in their needs, and not judging others for what they have been through but for what they aspire to do.”

$2,000 Champion Scholars Award

Tamia Holman is the recipient of the $2,000 Champion Scholars award. She currently attends Creekview High School in Lewisville, TX.

Tamia shared a vivid story of having to overcome adversity growing up. She learned resilience as she watched others close to her struggle to overcome challenging circumstances.

Tamia says she will benefit from the Champion Scholarship since it will take some financial stress off her and her family. It’s been a dream of hers to attend a university out of state and knows the only way she can make this a reality is to seek out scholarships. She plans to do a ton of packing the summer before starting college and spend ample time with her family and friends before moving away. She also plans to take summer classes at her local community college while continuing to work to help pay for necessities such as gas, clothing, etc.

Some of Tamia’s favorite hobbies include cooking, eating, watching movies, shopping, spending time outside, trying new restaurants, dancing, and spending time with her family and friends. Growing up, she loved watching Criminal Minds re-runs with her grandfather and has always been fascinated with psychology and criminal justice which has inspired her to pursue a career in the Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI).

Tamina will attend the University of Oklahoma to pursue a bachelor’s and master’s degree in both Psychology and Criminal Justice.

Quote from Tamia:

“Furthermore, my experience revolving around addiction as a whole has compelled me to champion the idea that we do not know everyone's story and background; by taking a step back and empathizing with the imperfect human quality we each possess, we can begin to deter societal prejudice.”