William J. Thomas Memorial Scholarship

I believe every person deserves to have that one teacher who changed their way of life, their way of thinking, and their mindset of school. In my education since pre-k I remember every single one of my teachers, but two of them in particular made a huge impact on my life and way of thinking. These two teachers by the names of Mrs.Kovar, and Mrs.Wilson have had the most impact on my life. They deserve the recognition for my success. Eighth grade was my first year back to school after covid hit, on top of that I didn’t have the best support system at home either. My attendance was not the greatest, but that's when it changed, the end of eighth grade. I had missed almost two weeks at one time because we were moving and had limited time to pack, while my parents worked I stayed home and packed, and unpacked within those two weeks. This is when Mrs.Wilson noticed I was gone, I checked my email trying my best to stay on top of assignments and when I checked there was an email from Mrs.Wilson asking if everything was okay and that she was worried. This was a major turning point for me. I realized someone did care, not just about me but for the importance of my education. After coming back to school she pulled me into the hall and I told her about everything that was going on and what the situation was. From that point on she always made sure I was okay, and made sure that I always had a ride to school. From then I stopped missing as many days and began my journey of trying for perfect attendance. She impacted my life in the most positive way, in a way where I am still in communication with her and go to her school and visit. In my first three years of high-school was in the education pathway. The teacher is Mrs.Kovar. My freshman year I still had not a good record for attendance considering I didn’t always have a ride or something would happen and I would need to stay home. Mrs.Kovar and I did not really have any sort of connection until my sophomore year when she told me to participate in a club she has called TAFE. That's when she began to impact my life for the better. Kovar told me I had potential and that I was very creative and she wanted me on her competition team. This made me fix my attendance more and make it to school no matter what, unfortunately I had to drop out of the competition and then came junior year, when she made the most impact a teacher could ever make. She forced me into TAFE, telling me if I didn't do it she would kick me out of her class, and told me that she needed me on her team. She made it clear that I had so much more potential than I had. She told me I could always rely on her if I needed anything. And with her faith in me I made it to nationals in TAFE with my solo project and continued to visit Kovar after I completed her class. I will forever be thankful for all the effort she put into my education and better wellbeing. These two teachers will always have a place in my heart for showing me that I could do anything if I put my mind to it, and that there’s always people rooting for me.