Awarding Scholarships ~ Voice Of The Township
On Saturday, May 21, the Wayne Township Trustee Office held their annual Family Fun Day celebrating the end of the school year with an outdoor party including dancing, karaoke, games, food and a scholarship awarding ceremony. Eleven awards were given to students from 1st to the 12th grade.
Academic Encouragement Awards—consisting of certificates and Amazon Fire tablets—were awarded to eight students on the basis of their personal essays and the recommendation of a teacher. Those students were: Sabrina Dombrowski, Matana Land, Elisha Brown, Desire Buckhanon, Mi’Angel Jordan Colter, Desirae Turner, Damonica Ellington, and Khloe Ball.
Three high school seniors going on to college each won a $500 Richard A Stevenson Sr Scholarship. Those awards were given based on academic achievement and/or improvement, a personal essay and letters of support from school counselors. Their stories follow:
Christopher Powell is graduating from Snider High School, and he will be heading to Indiana University in Bloomington. Christopher overcame some hard times in his life to achieve his many academic accomplishments. His guidance counselor was impressed with his “incredible resilience, his hard work, and his maturity.” The recommendation goes on to say, “I have no doubt that Christopher will continue to handle anything that comes his way with strength, grace, and a positive attitude.”
Joel Perry has overcome many tough situations in his life including spending several years in foster care. Though he acted out some of his frustrations early in his high school career, during his senior year he turned himself around. Over his last year of high school, Joel kept up his grades while playing varsity football, participating in the ICE program, and helping kids in the after school program at the Euell Wilson Center. He will be the first in his family to graduate high school and head off to college; Highland Community College.
Keyonna Williams attended R. Nelson Snider for all four years of high school. Her counselor there said that Keyonna is well spoken, conscientious, and a hard worker. Along with her classes, she has held down a job at McDonalds since she was 15 years old. At Snider she played in the orchestra and participated in the Panther’s Pause Program. Now she is excited for new beginnings. She will be attending Purdue University, Fort Wayne where she plans to study music and media.
Trustee Austin Knox personally handed each of the recipients their awards and then posed for pictures. “It is gratifying to be able to recognize the accomplishments of these students and to offer encouragement for them to keep growing through their schoolwork.”
Congratulations to the students. And thank you to our community partners for sponsoring both the party and the scholarships. We couldn’t have done it without you.
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