Joppa resident Kristen Lewis has won a $1,000 college scholarship awarded by State Employees Credit Union, Maryland’s largest financial cooperative. Lewis, who will be a senior at Cedarville University this fall, was one of nine students honored by SECU at a ceremony held earlier this week at the Goldstein Treasury Building in Annapolis.

SECU annually awards scholarships to Maryland state employees who are SECU members or members of their immediate families. Scholarship winners were selected based on submission of a 750-1,000 word essay discussing “What is your primary source of financial education.” Entries were judged on content, originality, and grammar. This marks the sixth year in which SECU has held its scholarship competition. In that time, SECU has awarded more than $165,000 in scholarships.