BIT OF JOY | Future Lawyers and Leaders Scholarship winners

Two seniors from Raines High School are the inaugural winners of the Future Lawyers and Leaders Scholarship from the D.W. Perkins Bar Association. Bryce Hardwick and Brandon Young are recognized for their efforts on the school’s mock trial team and on-campus leadership. The association of Black attorneys, judges and legal professionals from Northeast Florida is named after Daniel Webster Perkins, one of Florida’s first Black attorneys. Young said, “It’s amazing to be the first. And, to be the first Black students, from a historically Black high school, receiving the first scholarships from a historically Black foundation about Black lawyers is, quite literally, the epitome of Black excellence.” Young, who was accepted into more than 35 universities, will attend Clark Atlanta University to pursue a criminal justice degree next year. Hardwick is heading to Florida A&M University and aspires to join the FBI.