When no applications were received for the Judith Cary Scholarship by the deadline date of March 31, the date was extended until May 15. The selection committee again recommended that two scholarships be awarded. Amy Mitchell Howard of Arrington, Virginia, and Patricia Quillin of Lewisburg, West Virginia, will both receive $1,000 toward their fall classes.

Amy Mitchell Howard

Amy graduated in 2000 from Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia, with a degree in Studio Art. She has worked as a receptionist in the Office of Admission at the University of Virginia for nearly two years.

During the past three summers, Amy has taught art at the P. Buckley Moss Museum, working with preschool students from low-income families. Two years ago, she attended the P. Buckley Moss Foundation’s National Education Conference. She said, “After listening to speakers in various workshops, I was suddenly amazed I had never previously thought of teaching special education before. Listening to these speakers...with a particular focus on the arts and special education, I began pondering the idea of going into the special education field for the first time.” This past school year, she enrolled in two special education classes at UVA and has since been accepted for the full-time Master’s in Teaching program in Special Education in the prestigious Curry School of Education at UVA.

Amy said she has always known she would never achieve satisfaction in a career path unless it involved assisting and impacting others. Reared by parents who were deaf/hard-of-hearing instilled a great love, appreciation, and understanding for individuals with special needs. She is eager to utilize her sign language skills in the classroom.

She is interested in a couple of possible paths after graduate school. One possibility is working with children in a deaf institute or at an institution for students with various sensory disabilities. Another possibility is teaching special needs students on overseas military bases for the Department of Defense. Whichever path she takes, she has much to give students as a result of her background, her dedication, and her education.

Amy was nominated by Society member Dell Philpott of Staunton, Virginia.

Patricia Quillin

Trish Quillin’s route to her goals took a very different turn from Amy’s. A single mother of two teen-age sons, Trish dropped out of high school in her junior year. She felt misunderstood in her school system, in large part because of living with Attention Deficit Disorder, not a well-known condition 20 years ago.

After obtaining her GED, Trish worked at a group home for mentally and/or physically challenged adults. She became excited with this job and realized that there were possibilities for challenged individuals, if they were given the proper opportunities. She then began working as a classroom aide in the Special Education room at Greenbrier East High School.

Seven years ago, she transferred to the county’s Head Start Program, where she is still employed full-time as a home visitor/aide. She was instrumental in acquiring accreditation for this program. She began attending child development classes and found that she was personally making a difference in the lives of the students as well as their families. This encouraged her to enroll in college and learn all she could about the theories, techniques, and abilities that are required to be an effective teacher. She obtained an Associate’s Degree in General Studies and in Child Development from Bluefield State College with honors and is currently pursuing a BA from Concord College.

Trish stated, “My main goal is to make sure that all children are offered the best learning environment available. The special child should not be excluded from any classroom...I have only three semesters left before I will make the impact of a lifetime for the students and families that I will serve.” Trish’s own accomplishments only prove her belief that many times teachers give up on students much too early in their lives.

Trish was nominated by Society member Terry Mawyer of Athens, West Virginia.