Two local recent graduates were honored with a special reception on Wednesday for being selected as the first two recipients of the Dr. E.E. Perry Memorial Scholarship.
The scholarship was established in 2014 when Perry provided for a scholarship endowment in his will to provide assistance to exceptional students from Carter County who intend to pursue math, science, engineering or medical fields of study. To be eligible students had to be graduating seniors from a Carter County public high school, Elizabethton High School, homeschool or a GED recipient. The student had to have a minimum 3.0 grade point average, be enrolled full time at an accredited college or university in Tennessee and must demonstrate financial need. Perry’s will also selected the East Tennessee Foundation to oversee the scholarship endowment.
Several applications for the scholarship were received and a committee was established to select the recipients according to Beth Heller, director of scholarship programs through the East Tennessee Foundation.
After all the applications were reviewed, Noah Lyons and Ellie Decker were selected as the inaugural recipients of the scholarship. Both Lyons and Decker will receive $10,000 per year for four years as long as they maintain their minimum grade point average and continue in a major supported by the scholarship.
On Wednesday, the East Tennessee Foundation held a special reception to honor the two scholarship recipients for not only being selected but also for their hard work throughout their high school careers.
“We are so very proud of both of you and we know great things are going to happen for both of you,” Heller told Lyons and Decker.
A 2016 graduate of Happy Valley High School, Lyons is enrolled at East Tennessee State University where he will pursue a major in chemistry while following the pre-medicine track. His goal is to become an immunologist to help patients manage chronic immune disorder conditions and to ultimately work at the Veterans Administration Medical Center at Mountain Home in Johnson City.
Lyons has been a clinical intern and student volunteer at Sycamore Shoals Hospital and has volunteered at the Washington County Animal Shelter. He served as the Section Leader for the trumpet section in the Happy Valley High School band and played in both the ETSU and Carter County Honors Bands. A member of the Health Occupational Students of America, Lyons served as his local chapter’s treasurer and competed at HOSA events on the state level. He also served as Captain of the Academic Quiz Bowl Team, which qualified for the national competition in both 215 and 2016.
At the reception, Lyons thanked those in attendance for selecting him to receive the scholarship.
“Whenever I heard about this scholarship opportunity I knew this was the one I had to go for,” Lyons said. “Now I know I can go to college and focus on the work instead of how I’m going to pay for it. That means a lot to me because I’m a first generation college student.”
Decker is a 2016 graduate of Elizabethton High School and is enrolled to attend the University of Tennessee at Knoxville where she is planning to study biology and Spanish while on the pre-medicine track. Her goal is to become a surgeon and provide a high standard of healthcare in her own region and in impoverished regions around the world.
During her time in high school, Decker participated in and held leadership positions in several extracurricular activities, including both the concert and marching bands at EHS, where she was a Section Leader and went on to receive the Tennessee Division II State Marching Band Grand Champion Award. Decker also served as both a senator and a representative in student government, was a member of the HOSA chapter at EHS and competed with the Cross Country team. Decker also established and launched a Spanish tutoring program where she organized volunteers, created study guides and served as her Spanish teacher’s assistant in the classroom. She revived the school’s Spanish Club and then served as its president. Decker was also selected to participate in the Chamber of Commerce’s Youth Leadership program.
At the reception Decker also expressed her thanks to the East Tennessee Foundation.
“It really means a lot to me,” she said. “I’m going to college now and I know that. Thank you so much for selecting me.”