Seniors honored at annual Walk of Fame

By BRITTANY FHOLER 
Cove Leader-Press

The Copperas Cove Education Foundation recognized the top 10 percent of Copperas Cove High School’s graduating class of 2019 at its annual Senior Walk of Fame Monday evening at the Copperas Cove Civic Center. 
Students in the top 10 percent of their class, 48 altogether, each selected a teacher that had the most impact on them and their school experience to join them as the guests of honor for Monday’s dinner, which was catered by Five Loaves, Two Fish. 
Etta Kay Kirkpatrick, foundation president, recognized the members of the CCISD board of trustees, superintendent Joe Burns, staff from the Central Administration Office as well as CCHS principal Miguel Timarky and counselors Jill Guerin, Byron Eakin, Mimi Lugo and Carolyn Taylor. Kirkpatrick also congratulated the students for their hard work. 
“The purpose of the Copperas Cove Education Foundation is to promote and encourage academic excellence,” Kirkpatrick said. 
As students in the top 10 percent of the class of 2019, the seniors “exemplify academic excellence,” she added. 
“You have proven yourself to be individuals who strive for excellence,” Kirkpatrick said. “Not only do you excel in the classroom, you also participate in a wide variety of extracurricular activities and contribute to the community through your community service activities. All of that takes hard work, dedication, sacrifice, and excellent time management. We are very proud of you and proud to be able to have this event for you.”
Burns gave congratulatory remarks before the students and their teachers were recognized, calling the 48 students an “exceptional group of young people.” 
“First of all, I want to thank you for being such outstanding young folks and leaders in our school and leaders in our community,” Burns said. “You have left an indelible mark on CCISD and I want to thank you for that. I want to thank you also in that tonight is a night to honor you and you have had the opportunity to honor someone who’s made an impact in your life. Just as though you are the cream of the crop, the top 10 percent of the graduating class of 2019, as I go through the list and I look at the staff members and individuals that are being honored here tonight along with you, I’m reminded of what an exceptional staff that we have at CCISD.”
Several teachers were selected by multiple students, including Lisa Yates, selected by Holly Beamesderfer and Sarah Brady; Linda Sharp, selected by Tai-Aji Alzona, Ali Balk and the class’ Salutatorian Abdiel Hernandez-Lopez; and Randall Parsons, selected by Luke Avritt, Emilee Kirk and Megan McDonald. 
Other selected by students included Traci Winter, Raysharon Brown, Beverly Miracle, Nancy Norris, Misty Thomas,  Anna Chauvin, Tad Laver, Maydean Brown, Omotoya Abudu, Amal Baty, Joseph Leary, Sandra Perry, James Ortiz, Charles Boadu, Daniel Montgomery, Jason Fleming, Doug Messer, Trish Gray, William Pender, Robert Cummings, Timothy Smith, Cody Edgar, Kristen Kasper, Josephine Shipman, Sheryl Bierschwale, Chelsie Rayson, Ryan Grace, Christopher Owusu, Adam Apolinar, Melissa Penney, and Charlotte Heinze. 
Following the teacher and student recognition, several scholarship winners were announced by Education Foundation board member Cindy Hutcherson. 
“At the inception of the foundation, one of the main goals was to get to a point of fiscal stability where we would be able to start offering a four-year scholarship to a student, four years, $1,000 per year,” Hutcherson said. 
The two recipients for the four-year scholarships, each $4,000 total, were Abdiel Hernandez-Lopez and Eric “Logan” Stock. The three one-time scholarship recipients were Elaine Armstrong, who received $1,000, and Alexis Grasso and Abbi Wardlow, who each received $2,000.