Wayne County teacher scholarship recipients named
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on June 8, 2004 2:00 PM
Scholarships were awarded to eight potential teachers during Monday night's meeting of the Wayne County Board of Education.
The Wayne County Teacher Scholarship program, sponsored by the Board of Commissioners, was established in 2000 to attract people into the teaching profession.
The recipients accept the scholarships with the agreement that they will teach in Wayne County for at least four years after graduating from college.
Four of the eight scholarships, valued at $5,000 each, go to students enrolled at state public universities or colleges. One, worth $8,000 annually, is given to a student enrolled at a private institution.
Board member Shirley Sims along with Commissioners Chairman J.D. Evans and Commissioner Efton Sager, presented the scholarships. Ms. Sims said this year's candidates were outstanding.
"Selecting only eight recipients was not an easy task," she said. "There are many excellent future teachers among the group of candidates interviewed."
Olivia Pierce, the school board's director of community relations, coordinates the scholarship program for the school system. She said the program is an exemplary teacher recruitment model for North Carolina.
This year's recipients include Heidi Wiseman, 2004 graduate of Southern Wayne High School, winner of the scholarship worth $8,000 per year to attend a private college or university.
Winners of the four-year scholarships, worth $5,000 a year, to attend public colleges or universities, are Courtney Howell, 2004 graduate of Charles B. Aycock High; Deena Stutts, 1973 graduate of Southern Wayne High, and James Cox, 2003 Rosewood High graduate.
Two-year scholarships worth $1,200 a year to attend Wayne Community College were presented to Briana McGuire, 2004 graduate of Eastern Wayne; Robert Smith, 2003 Southern Wayne graduate; Angela Goldsby, 2001 graduate of Goldsboro High, and Pamela Kneeshaw, 1983 Eastern Wayne High graduate. The students will also receive $5,000 for two years to attend four-year colleges after transferring from Wayne Community.