Covington
College just got a little closer to reality for sixth-grader Lelia Covington, who this week won a scholarship that aims to motivate students to succeed through high school graduation.
Covington, 13, will receive $100 toward college each time she makes the honor roll in middle and high school, thanks to the new scholarship offered by Park Hall Elementary School. Over seven years, there is the potential for as much as $2,800, plus interest.
Katherine Norton, principal at Park Hall, said the scholarship was designed to go to a student who demonstrated through words and actions that he or she was a model fifth-grade leader. It does not necessarily go to the top student of the class, but instead one who has the potential to succeed.
Covington is keenly aware of the need to work to her potential. The sixth-grader at Spring Ridge Middle School said that early on in elementary school she sometimes would get in trouble for minor infractions. She remembers learning the definition of stealing when she took two bags of chips instead of just one.
“I think I could have avoided a lot of things I did” that got her in trouble as a younger child, she said Tuesday.
She also continually struggled through elementary school with reading and math work, she said. She was held back to repeat second grade.
By fifth grade, however, things began to change for Covington.
“I kind of woke up and realized I need to be a good example,” especially to her two younger sisters who were beginning school, she said.
She also attributed lots of support from her mother and teachers at Park Hall Elementary School in helping her find the right path.
“I felt like I was going to school with friends and family,” she said.
And now that she found out she was the winner of the new scholarship, she is even more focused on succeeding in school and life, she said.
“I was pretty shocked when I got it,” she said.
She is off to a good start, having made the honor roll the first two marking periods this year.
Covington said she stresses, sometimes too much, over tests and other school work.
“I work really hard,” she said. She added that because of the challenges she faced earlier in life, she knows she has to work twice as hard as many other students if she is going to reach her goals.
She said that she wants to be able to help other people, especially children, who have extreme circumstances in their lives. She wants to be able to tell them that no matter how hard it seems, there are others who have it harder and that with a little bit of work, they, too, can overcome their troubles.
Before she started sixth grade, she heard horror stories about how difficult middle school is and that Spring Ridge Middle School in particular was a tough place to be. That’s not the case, she tells her younger friends now.
“It’s capable of doing if you just do your work,” she said.
Spring Ridge Middle School teacher Susan Houseman agreed, saying that most students come in with anxiety about middle school, which does involve more work but is not so hard if they try. “She walked in and started working very hard from the first day of school,” her teacher said.
Covington’s advised students not to let their peers “get them down.” She said she was sometimes perceived as the teacher’s pet, just because she always did her work. She advises others that they have to do what’s right for themselves in circumstances like that.
“You’ve just got to push through whatever you’re going through,” she said.
Covington said she is beginning to think about college, and wonders how she will pay for it. The potential $2,800 from the Park Hall scholarship will be a nice start, but she knows it will cost much more than that for four years of college.
“I want to make my parents proud of me and I want to make Spring Ridge proud of me,” she said.
During a Spring Ridge Middle School awards assembly Monday morning before Covington’s name was announced, Park Hall teacher Sarah Polgreen said the winning student was one who enjoyed chorus and loved to sing and hum. She said the student was a great mentor, and “knew how to have fun and work at the same time.”
Park Hall teacher Robert Hindman said the winning student loved to read, worked hard in math even when it was difficult and was known for her cooperation and character.
“She’s a worthy recipient,” Spring Ridge Middle School Principal Angela Fulp said. She described Covington as a determined, articulate student bound for success.
Some schools have given smaller monetary incentives to students who make the honor roll, but the idea of a potential $2,800 scholarship awarded in increments through middle and high school is a new concept, at least locally, educators said. Upon graduating high school, the money will be sent to the recipient’s college of choice.
The first scholarship was made possible by an anonymous donor who has agreed to sponsor the winner during the next seven years, Norton said. “It is our hope that this incentive throughout middle and high school will open other scholarship opportunities due to the maintenance of a good grade point average,” she said. Norton is also hoping to find other businesses or individuals to sponsor the scholarship each year.
jyeatman@somdnews.com