Fourteen recent Elmore County graduates were recognized for their achievements by the Emanon Group.
The group formed 21 years ago to celebrate the efforts of students, teachers and parents. One student recognized was recent Wetumpka High School graduate Lamyah Mitchell who received six of the 16 scholarships awarded during a tea honoring students from across the county. Mitchell plans to use the scholarship funds to attend Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, Georgia where she plans to attend nursing school. She was in the medical services program at the Elmore County Technical Center when she discovered the nursing career path was for her.
“I found out I really enjoyed what you do in nursing and helping people,” Mitchell said. “I want to do it for the rest of my life.”
It helped that Mitchell helped care for her diabetic grandfather. She was also around the nursing profession quite a bit after Mitchell was diagnosed with hidradenitis suppurativa, a non-contagious chronic inflammatory skin disorder characterized by painful nodules, abscesses and scarring. Overcoming the diagnosis was noted as one of the reasons for several of the scholarships she was awarded by the Emanon Group. Mitchell won the Emanon Group Leadership, Cora Crosby Francis, Dedrick D. Bowden, James H. Adams Sr. and the Lewis E. Washington scholarships.
Other recent graduates honored by Emanon at this year’s tea were India Allen of Tallassee High School; Elmore County High School’s Kylie Mosher and CJ Wilkes; Montgomery Catholic’s Caleb McCreary; Stanhope Elmore’s Karley Earl, Aysia Jackson, Sydney Jackson and Olivia Stephens; and Wetumpka’s Kaiya Dixon, Ashley Fulmer, Gabrielle Jackson, Lamyah Mitchell, Emma Wasden and Kylie Winfree.
Emanon Group president Desirae Lewis Jackson said the Emanon Group is an educational advocacy group that honors graduating seniors with scholarships and academic achievement, recognizing parents for their hard work. It also recognizes teachers.
Emanon also honored students who still have a few years to go in school, including the following: Airport Road Intermediate School fourth graders Arabella Banks, Alec Crosby, Aiden Daniels, Avery VanHouten and Eli Watson; Coosada Elementary School second graders Riley Sky McQueen, Romelo Frank McQueen and Paisley VanHouten and kindergarteners Mariah Roberts and Braelyn Zeigler; Millbrook Middle School sixth grader Cierra D. Gilder Jr., seventh grader Kayson Kendrick and eighth graders Mason Hearn and Jacob Thompson; Stanhope Elmore eleventh graders Sha’Hollene Smith, Caleb Thompson and Savannah Williams; Tallassee High School eleventh grader Kinsley Kennebrew; Redland Elementary School third grader Abram English; Redland Middle School eighth grader Alora Logan, seventh graders Lindsay Arianna Davis, Tristyn Lowery Davis and William McBride; sixth graders Ella Kate English, Heaven Scarbrough and Regan Summerlin; Wetumpka Elementary School third graders Joshua Gipson and Ca’Zariah Webster, second grader Karson Jeffery and first graders Jada Mitchell, Cor’Zaviah Webster, Cor’Zavious Webster and Tianna O’Neal Winston; Wetumpka Middle School eighth grader Xavier Morris, fifth graders Jabari Jernigan, Demetria Leonard and Octavious Reeves and third grader Shontae Leonard; Wetumpka High School ninth graders Nicholas Carrell Davis and Brianna Reeves, tenth grader Winston McBride and eleventh grader Alana Morgan Eaves; Eclectic Middle School fifth grader Angel Matthews, fourth grader Chase Matthews, third graders Taleria Matthews and Ja’Shya Milner; Holtville Middle School fifth grader Madyson Robinson; Marbury High School eleventh grader Mackenzie Elaine Houser; Chandler High School eleventh grader Ariel Washington; and homeschooler tenth grader Dallass Warren Tucker, eighth grader Alexander Monroe Tucker and fifth grader James Federick Tucker.