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2011 Steele Scholars Named by Community Foundation
Pictured left to right are Danielle Covey, Yasmine Harding, Kayla Holecheck, Achia Thompson, and Megan Williams.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (EASTON - June 29, 2011)
The Mid-Shore Community Foundation announced $100,000 in scholarships to the third class of Austin and Martha Steele Scholars. Outstanding public high-school graduates on the Mid-Shore competed for five scholarships, one for each of the five counties served by the Foundation. The Steele scholarship is the largest and most prestigious award by the Mid-Shore Community Foundation for graduating seniors throughout the region. This year, graduates of Colonel Richardson High School, Easton High School, Kent County High School, North Dorchester High School, and Queen Anne’s County High School received a four year, $20,000 scholarship.
Austin and Martha Steele were retired educators who resided in both Dorchester and Talbot counties. They wanted to support the development of a new generation of leaders committed to community service and education. They also wanted to ensure that public high school graduates with an exceptional academic record would have the funds necessary to complete their college degree.
Each year, the Mid-Shore Community Foundation provides a significant, four-year scholarship to one public high school graduate from each of the 5 Mid-Shore counties thanks to the generosity of Austin and Martha Steele. For 2011, the scholarships were awarded to Danielle Covey, Yasmine Harding, Kayla Holecheck, Achia Thompson, and Megan Williams.
Danielle Covey was in the Maryland Teacher Academy while enrolled at Colonel Richardson High School. Through that program she has not only earned college credit but she passed the qualifying test to be an instructional assistant. She was also involved in a mentoring program at Preston Elementary School where she created a variety of independent activities for students to use during math class. Danielle will be attending Salisbury University in the fall and plans to major in Elementary Education.
While she was a student at Kent County High School, Yasmine Harding did an internship at Chestertown Orthopedics working in physical therapy. That experience and her volunteer service at Heron Point reinforced her goal is to become a physical therapist. She will begin that journey in the fall at Morgan State University in the School of Education and Urban Studies.
Kayla Holecheck was extensively involved in sports and in the arts throughout her high school experience. It is through the arts and particularly her involvement in the drama program at Easton Middle School that Kayla worked with younger kids. Kayla’s long term goal to pursue a career in education will begin this fall at Towson University where she plans to major in Elementary Education.
North Dorchester High School graduate Achia Thompson has used her favorite classes -- mathematics and English – as a stepping stone to her commitment to a career in Secondary Education as a teacher of mathematics. She will attend Salisbury University in the fall to begin her career with a long term goal of completing a Master’s degree in the field. She then plans to return to Dorchester County to teach at one of the county’s high schools.
Megan Williams shares an interest in elementary education with two other recipients of the award this year. At a very early age she worked with a chalkboard in her basement schooling imaginary children. While at Queen Anne’s County High School she volunteered in a number of community outreach programs that nurtured her interest in service to others. This fall, she plans to major in Elementary Education at Neumann University.
Additional information on the Mid-Shore Steele Scholarship is available at www.mscf.org or by contacting Robbin Hill at the Mid-Shore Community Foundation, 410-820-8175, ext 103.
