Corlew receives Jeff Koppel Memorial Scholarship from Head Start Assoc.
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JERSEY SHORE -- Recently, Breanna Corlew, a senior at the Jersey Shore Area High School, was named a winner of the third annual Pennsylvania Head Start Association (PHSA) 2023 Jeff Koppel Memorial Scholarship Award.
The $2,500 scholarship recognizes former Head Start students with outstanding academic and personal achievement along with strong leadership and motivational skills who are enrolling in post-secondary education. Breanna is the daughter of Melissa and Daniel Corlew of Rauchtown.
Breanna was a Head Start student at the Lycoming-Clinton (STEP, Inc.) Head Start McElhattan Center. She will attend West Chester University, West Chester, Pa. in the fall. She has been accepted into the Honors Program and will major in English.
Head Start helped Breanna set high academic goals, she writes, sparked an early passion for learning, and taught her to seize every opportunity available. She still has her signed copy of "If You Were a Penguin" after meeting its authors, Florence Friedmann Minor and Wendell Minor, in her Head Start class. Breanna believes Head Start encouraged her passion for reading, and her positive memories of learning as a young child led her to associate learning with fun and gave her an extra boost before entering kindergarten.
Breanna has a 4.0 Grade Point Average (GPA) and ranks among the top five percent in her class. She holds several leadership roles at the Jersey Shore Area High School: President of the National English Honor Society; and Webmaster, Secretary, and currently President of the Key Club. She participated in the Mock Constitutional Convention-Model United Nations (UN) all four years of high school and won the Superior Delegate Award. She is a member of the National Honor Society, the Spanish National Honor Society, the tennis team, and the Youth Development Task Force of the Lycoming County Health Coalition, which collaborates with 9 county school districts. A Girl Scout who earned the Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards, Breanna also umpires Little League Softball, held two part-time jobs and interned at the local newspaper, The Lock Haven Express.
The English teacher who taught Breanna for two years writes, "Breanna has left me speechless on numerous occasions due to her mastery of twenty-first century skills, specifically her ability to think about material and analyze it for depth. Her exceptional communication skills motivate her to constantly accept leadership roles within group work, designate appropriate roles for others, and guide her peers to success... Her ability to juggle her rigorous academics, club activities, employment outside of school, while still participating in the community leaves me in a state of awe."
Breanna attributes her academic achievements to her attendance at Head Start. Without Head Start, she writes, she would not be where she is today, and she is forever grateful to the program and to her parents for enrolling her in it.
The Jeff Koppel Memorial Head Start Scholarship Fund in partnership with the Pennsylvania Head Start Association honors the life and important contributions made to the Head Start community by Jeff Koppel, a former Head Start Director, and management training and assistance provider to Head Start and Early Head Start Programs. Before his death in January 2020, Jeff's reputation as a friendly helper and advice-giver, fierce Head Start advocate, and always-available shoulder for Head Start Directors, staff, and Boards to lean on was well-established. His wit, breadth of Head Start knowledge, and strategic thinking helped Head Start programs everywhere be the best they could be, and he is warmly remembered by all who knew him. Jeff's widow, Sharon, also a former Head Start Director, said, "Jeff knew that Head Start years had to be followed by regular education, and then, post high school, if long-term life impact was to occur."