Local organization awards scholarships to Raleigh County students

Aug. 10—A recent Woodrow Wilson High School graduate who plans to attend West Virginia University Institute of Technology will have some financial backing from a local organization made of educators.

In June, Michael Spain was one of eight Raleigh County students to receive a scholarship from BEAUTY, which stands for Black Educators Are United Totally, Yes!.

Spain was selected to receive one of the top two scholarships awarded by BEAUTY, the Thomas Parham Jr. Memorial Scholarship for $2,000.

He said he feels honored and grateful for the scholarship.

"I'm very appreciative to be a recipient of that scholarship, particularly by the Parhams in honor of their son," Spain said. "So I'm very grateful."

Spain said he was able to secure enough other scholarships and financial aid for his freshman year at WVU Tech, so he plans to wait to use the BEAUTY Scholarship until his sophomore year.

Spain said he initially found out about BEAUTY when he ran into its president and founder, Quincy Madison, while in downtown Beckley one day.

Spain said Madison initially encouraged him to participate in the organization's Eddiena L. Schoolfield Oratorical Competition.

The competition is named for Eddiena Schoolfield, who has been involved with education for over five decades and is known for her skills and eloquence as a public speaker.

The purpose of the competition is to provide an opportunity for students to develop knowledge and appreciation of public speaking as well as to think critically about an assigned topic.

For this year's topic, students were asked to write about social media platforms and how they are helpful or harmful.

Spain won third place in the oratorical competition and was awarded $150.

The first and second-place winners of the oratorical competition were Nicole Asamoah, who received a laptop, and Tyle Asamoah, who received $300.

In addition to scholarships and competitions, Spain said BEAUTY has sponsored him on several education trips including one to New York for the National Honor Society.

With all the opportunities provided by BEAUTY to Black students in Raleigh County, Spain said he wished more people knew and took advantage of all that BEAUTY has to offer students.

"It's an easy opportunity to receive aid or to win money," he said. "Unfortunately, we didn't have that many people participate in the oratorical competition last year and I would like to see more African American students at Woodrow Wilson participate in these oratorical competitions to have a chance at winning some money or being recognized by BEAUTY for potential scholarship aid."

Spain said he is less than a week away from the start of his fall semester at WVU Tech, where he plans to major in accounting.

"I've always been interested in the accounting aspects of a business," he said, so he wants to see "where that takes me and if I can pursue similar interests."

The second biggest BEAUTY scholarship was awarded to Nicole Asamoah.

Asamoah received the $2,000 Juanita Parham Memorial Scholarship, which is awarded to the student who has demonstrated exceptional achievement by earning the highest GPA.

Asamoah graduated from Woodrow Wilson with a GPA of 4.450. She plans to attend Marshall University in the fall to study nursing and biochemistry.

Recipients of the $1,500 BEAUTY scholarship were Victoria DeJarnette and Jayden Kidd.

Recipients of the $1,300 BEAUTY scholarship were Morgan Durgan, Dorothy Paris and Bella Staples.

The recipient of the $1,000 BEAUTY scholarship was Isaiah Patterson.

BEAUTY was initially established in 2018 to provide support and financial aid to Black students in their pursuit of higher education.

Email: jmoore@register-herald.com