Lauren CavenderLauren Cavender was awarded the Taylor Moore Memorial Scholarship at the New Albany High School graduation ceremony on May 23, 2014.  The $5000 competitive scholarship is given each year to a deserving NAHS student who plans to attend college in Mississippi.  The scholarship selection process includes criteria relating to character, GPA, extracurricular activities, written essay, and an interview by a selection committee.

Lauren is the daughter of Lane Cavender and Julie Cavender.  She is a member of First Baptist Church where she is an active member of Acteens and the Youth Praise Band.  Lauren plans to attend Northeast Community College this fall and pursue her studies in pre-medicine/biology.

An honor graduate, Cavender was selected into the NAHS Hall of Fame. She was a member of the National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Spanish Club, Anchor Club, Technology Students Association, Science Honor Society, and National Technical Honor Society.

During her senior year, Cavender was selected as a homecoming maid and voted “Most Likely to Succeed.

A three-sport athlete, Cavender lettered in volleyball, slow pitch softball, and fast pitch softball. In slow pitch softball she was named to first team All Division and received Division Defensive MVP. She was also named to the Daily Journal All Area Team. Lauren participated in the 4A-6A All State Softball game. She also received division honors in fast pitch softball. Lauren received the Bulldog Award at the Athletic Banquet held in May.

The Taylor Moore Scholarship was established by Bobby and Minerva Moore in memory of their son who died in 2000.  Taylor Moore was a 1988 honor graduate of W.P. Daniel High School.  He was Mr. DHS, Most Popular, Most Dignified, and Class Favorite and was active in student government.  Moore played first base for the DHS baseball team, and received numerous academic honors.  He went on to receive his bachelors and masters degrees in business administration from Mississippi State University.

The scholarship established in his memory has been awarded for ten years to outstanding graduates of New Albany High School.  Past recipients of the Taylor Moore Scholarship are Stacy Stepp, Darden Holmes, Kyle Kimbrough, Ivy Lauren Williams, Kyle Hickey, Callie Creekmore, Taylor Goode, Josh Creekmore, and Olivia Dunnam.