A teacher’s talent of delivering memorable lessons led Whitewater High senior Sophia DiCarlo to choose education as her future profession, and as a result, she has been selected as the 2015 Dr. John DeCotis Future Educator Scholarship recipient.
DiCarlo will use the $1,500 scholarship this fall when she attends Georgia College and State University. She plans to double major in math and English literature, and then pursue a teaching degree.
DiCarlo realized she wanted to teach while taking an Advanced Placement (AP) Art History class with Whitewater High teacher Carolyn Simons.
“I was drawn to the teaching profession by my own experience with my art history teacher’s presentation of the course material in a passionate and interesting way that allowed me to immensely enjoy learning the course material. I came to the realization that I desire to be able to inspire my own students through my personal passion, and dedication to their learning experience,” said DiCarlo.
After she earns her teaching degree, DiCarlo’s goal is to work with disadvantaged youth, or to teach abroad in underdeveloped areas. Simons, the AP art history teacher whose teaching practices influenced DiCarlo’s decision to enter the education field, says she and DiCarlo have had many conversations about teaching, and in her opinion, she will become a teacher who will impact the world.
“In my 20 years of teaching, I have rarely met a young woman so full of promise, so full of passion, or so full of integrity. She has begun to carve a path, and I know that she will impact young people in the same way she has impacted me. She will impact the world,” said Simons.
DiCarlo is graduating from high school with an overall 4.0 grade point average. She has been a member of the marching band for all four years at Whitewater. She is also a member of the Beta Club, National Honor Society, Science National Honors Society, Spanish Honors Society, and AP Psychology Club.
The Dr. John DeCotis Future Educator Scholarship is named in honor of Fayette’s former school superintendent who served the county in that capacity for 10 years before retiring in June 2010. Prior to becoming school superintendent, DeCotis worked in the school system as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, and county-level administrator.
