Graduating senior hopes to return to Coatesville as kindergarten teacher
Scarlett Patton
COATESVILLE – The recipient of a new scholarship designed to exert a positive impact on Coatesville-area youth was announced this week by the Brandywine Health Foundation.
Scarlett Patton, a Coatesville Youth Initiative high school senior, was rewarded for her activism with the first annual Harry Lewis Jr. Scholarship Award, named in honor of Lewis, chairman of the board of the Brandywine Health Foundation and a lifelong Coatesville-area resident. Selected for her involvement with the Coatesville Youth Initiative and her commitment to improving the quality of life in the greater Coatesville community, Patton will receive $5,050 each year for up to four years for tuition and fees.
During his 41 years in education, Lewis held the positions of social worker, special education teacher, physical education teacher, track coach and assistant principal. In 2006, after serving as principal of the Coatesville Area Senior High School Campus, he retired. He now serves as a Penn Relay high school referee.
“I am so touched that our board of directors decided to establish a scholarship in my name because the Coatesville school district has been my entire career,” Lewis said. “I know what a difference a good college education can make because I had that opportunity. I came home to teach, retired as the high school principal, and nothing gives me more pleasure than seeing other young people head in a positive direction.”
Patton appears headed on that same path. A soon-to-be graduate of Coatesville Area Senior High School and the Center for Arts & Technology Brandywine Campus, she studied early childhood education. She was a member of the Game Changers Youth Council, Drama Club, and Chester County Future and a participant in the ServiceCorps Summer Youth Employment and Leadership Development Program. She has competed in the Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) State Leadership Conference for the last two years. Most recently, she competed in the Lesson Plan Division, developing a kindergarten lesson for students at Rainbow Elementary School. She put together a portfolio which won first place in the Teach and Train Division for the Pennsylvania FCCLA competition.
Patton will attend Delaware County Community College, majoring in elementary education. She plans to transfer to a four-year college or university pursuing her Bachelors of Arts degree in elementary education and certificate in special education. Her career aspiration: to return to the Coatesville Area School District as a kindergarten teacher.
“It is our goal to provide even more young people with a four-year scholarship to college. We encourage members of our community to join us in this important endeavor, and make a gift and a difference that will impact a young person their entire lifetime,” said Frances Sheehan, who heads the Brandywine Health Foundation.
