PINEVILLE, LA. – Cleco Corporation donated $2,000 in scholarships to the ADVANCE Program for young scholars at Northwestern State University held in June.

Recipients of the scholarships were Andrew Bennett of Slidell and Tomas Parker of Pineville. Bennett, who is entering the 12th grade at Northshore High School, completed a film studies course during the three-week program. This is his fifth year to attend the program. He is the son of Gary and Melissa Bennett.

Parker, who is entering Pineville High School as a freshman, completed a programming course during his first year at the program. He is the son of Austin and Carmella Parker. The ADVANCE program is one of five collaborative efforts with Duke University’s Talent Identification Program and was started in 1989. This is the only Duke collaborative program in Louisiana.

ADVANCE offers courses that are comparable to one year of high school curriculum or equivalent to one semester of college. The courses cover a broad range of subjects including algebra, journalism, computer science and more. The program is offered to eighth-through 12thgrade students throughout the nation.

For further information regarding ADVANCE, please call 318-357-4500 or visit http://advance.nsula.edu/.