Published: June 16, 2009 09:18 pm      

Montcalm student seeks votes to win national online scholarship

MONTCALM — Sunday is the last day you can cast a vote for a Montcalm High School student seeking a free college tuition.

After going through an application process and an interview, 16-year-old Brooke Alexandra Bailey is one of a dozen students competing online for a tuition at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon. As of Tuesday she had approximately 1,300 votes–enough to put her in third place.

Bailey, who is an upcoming MHS senior, who is the only local student in the statewide competition, said her father heard about the election on the radio.

“My dad first heard about it while listening to the Hoppy Kercheval Show,” Bailey recalled. “And he looked it up on the Internet and told me about it, and I just thought it was a good opportunity.”

She first answered a series of questions on the college’s web site. Then she had to write an essay, send a copy of her high school transcript to Wesleyan and ask her guidance counselor to write a letter of recommendation.

Those were the initial steps.

“Then they narrowed it down to 20 contestants. Those 20 went to have an interview in Charleston, and from there they limited it to 12, and that’s where the public starts to vote,” Bailey said. “Actually, next Tuesday (June 23) they announce the winner at a luncheon.”

Online voting will end at midnight on June 21, according to Wesleyan College officials.

Some of Bailey’s competitors attend schools where the student body numbers in the thousands, but she has approximately 400 classmates at Montcalm High.

“I think my dad said that I had reached about 1,300 (votes), but I’m still in third place. I come from one of the smaller communities, and I’ve had to really reach out,” Bailey said.

She was still thinking about which major she wanted to pursue.

“I’ve still got one more year to think about it. Right now I’m thinking about either a high school English teacher or a clinical psychologist. English is my favorite subject. I’ve always been interested in it and I love to write, so that would be a pretty good way to incorporate that,” Bailey said. She also plays volleyball for MHS and is a member of Student Council and the National Honors Society.

The scholarship’s winner will receive a four-year tuition and fees scholarship.

The first runner-up will receive a $5,000 four-year renewable scholarship that can be added to other Wesleyan scholarships, college officials said.

The second runner-up will be awarded $2,500, and the remaining finalists will receive a $1,000 award.

People who want to vote for Brooke Alexandra Bailey can go to the web address www.wvscholar.com. Voters will receive an e-mail from the college asking them to confirm their choice.

Bailey’s father, Barry Bailey, works for the West Virginia Department of Highways, and her mother, Valerie Bailey, teaches first grade at Montcalm Elementary School.

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com