The Atherton Memorial Scholarship, established by the Joseph Atherton family to honor a Mathews High School graduate pursuing further education in trades, technical training or community college, was recently awarded to 2026 MHS graduate Addison Morgan.

Frances Atherton, wife of the late Joseph “Joe” Atherton, and her family presented the $600 award to Morgan, who will be continuing her education in the fall at Rappahannock Community College. She hopes to then transfer to the College of William & Mary to complete her degree in Education with a Theater Minor and return to Mathews as a teacher.

While attending high school, Morgan took honors and dual enrollment classes, studied art, served as a member of the Blue Devils Color Guard, and worked as a babysitter/nanny for a local family and in various capacities at Howard-Dooley Café. She also volunteered behind the scenes at several events with the Court House Players and Mathews Dance Studio.

Joe Atherton was instrumental in establishing the Gwynn’s Island Civic League Foundation, which continues to administer the fund. A main focus Atherton had was to encourage young students to pursue their passion and then come back to the Mathews area and give to the community they love, a release said.