2000 Harbison Award

What three adjectives would you choose to describe yourself?

When asked that question, applicants for the P. Buckley Moss Society’s Anne and Matt Harbison Award most frequently chose determined and hard working, along with synonyms like motivated, ambitious, and driven. These qualities are obvious when one reads of all the accomplishments of these students who have had to cope with various learning differences.

Most of the 34 outstanding applicants, who come from 15 different states, have well-defined goals for themselves. Several wish to become teachers in various fields, sometimes in combination with coaching. A few intend to pursue artistic bents such as photography, interior design, computer animation, and web page design. One wants to be a professional golfer on the PGA tour, another an FBI agent, and another an inventor. Regardless of where they will be in a few years, they are determined to make their mark in the world as they make a difference.

The selection committee faced a difficult challenge to narrow the field to just one winner of the $1,000 award. That recipient is Lissie Richmond from Robert E. Lee High School in Staunton, Virginia.

Lissie has been on the honor roll throughout high school and worked hard to be selected to the National Honor Society. She is proudest of receiving the Daughters of the American Revolution Award for Leadership 2000 because it was voted on not only by the faculty but also by her peers.

Her counselor notes that she “is one of those rare students who can balance academics and extra-curricular activities.” She is very involved in her church youth group, rides horses, and has been an athletic trainer for football and wrestling teams for four years. This year she also completed a mentorship in art at the middle school.

Her Algebra II teacher likens Lissie to Rudy, the young man in the movie who had a dream to play football for and graduate from Notre Dame. “Working against great odds,he finally succeeded. He accomplished this by his fierce determination and drive. Lissie is his female counterpart.” Last semester, Lissie worried that she had lost some of her algebra skills. She re-enrolled to audit the Algebra II class to improve her skills before graduating and to improve her SAT scores.

Lissie was diagnosed with dyslexia in the first grade. Since then, she has struggled with other people’s misunderstanding and lack of knowledge. For years she was placed in classes below her ability because it took her so long to read. Finally, by the time she entered high school, she was able to accept and feel comfortable with who she is — an LD student. She began referring to LD as learning differently because she never felt disabled.

Lissie will attend Radford University to pursue a career in interior design. Radford’s strong support system for students with disabilities helped her to make that college her choice. She concludes, “Being LD has been a challenge for me, but it has also made me stronger and more understanding of other people’s differences.

Adaline W. Miller of Waynesboro is the Society member who nominated Lissie.

Harbison Renewal

The 1999 Harbison Award winner received a renewal of her $1,000 scholarship for 2000. Ariel Mann attends the University of Arizona in Tucson where she hopes to achieve a master’s degree in physical therapy.

She says, “During my freshman year, I have learned a great deal about time management and the skills needed to remain organized…In addition, I have taken on a leadership role within my sorority, Sigma Kappa. This position requires me to take care of matters in a timely fashion and keep track of the social events for our sorority.”

Ariel will use the scholarship funds again to help offset the annual fees of the SALT Program at U of A. This program gives her testing accommodations, unlimited tutoring for her classes, and the availability to an Educational Specialist to help advocate for her “learning needs.”

Cary Scholarship

Katie Staub of Hanover, Pennsylvania, is the recipient of the 2000 Judith Cary Scholarship of $1,000. She has completed her junior year at College Misericordia in Dallas, Pennsylvania, toward her goal of acquiring a B.A. degree in special education, elementary education, and early childcare.

Her academic advisor observes, “Katie has all the characteristics that make a great teacher. She has a profound respect for all persons, regardless of their background or needs. She is outgoing, supportive, and cooperative, and viewed positively by her peers. Her flexibility and sense of humor allow her to function effectively in many different situations. Finally, she is very determined and has worked diligently toward this goal.”

While some college students opt for a summer of making money, Katie opts for a summer of making a difference. For the past three summers, she was a one-on-one counselor at Camp Penn-wood, a day camp for mentally and physically handicapped adolescents. The first summer she worked with a 15-year-old girl who was profoundly autistic, the second summer with a seven-year-old boy who was also profoundly autistic, and the third summer with a 10-year-old boy who suffered from profound mental retardation and is multi-physically handicapped with a mental age of two.

When home on break from college, Katie substituted in special needs classrooms. She was placed in an emotional support classroom in a middle school and a learning disabled classroom in an elementary school. Throughout high school, she volunteered in a preschool special needs class where she read stories, played games, and chaperoned field trips. During her senior year, she volunteered for a week at Camp Kirchenwald for special needs individuals aged 15 to 35 with severe and profound disabilities.

Katie stated, “To make a difference in the life of a person is one of the best rewards that one can receive. But in my eyes, to make a difference in an individual’s life with special needs is a reward that is out of this world. That difference may be to smile, tie their shoes, brush their teeth, count to ten, say the word ‘friend.’ But the biggest difference is giving that individual the opportunity to live as normal a life as possible.”

Katie was nominated by Society member Diana Klunk.

The Society and its members are proud of these winners, and commend all of the applicants for their achievements.