Provo Way Award: Emma Hernandez, Teacher at Wasatch Elementary
September 10th, 2024
“She's always coming in positive and happy,” said Noelle Lewis, Emma Hernandez’s nominator...
At the recent PCSD kick-off meeting, the audience was pleased to welcome Keira Scholz as the guest speaker.
Keira Scholz was born in 1988 and grew up in a poor family in Provo, Utah where she encountered abuse, drugs, prostitution, family separation, and profound poverty. She attended the following Provo elementary schools: Joaquin, Westridge, Provost, and Sunset View. As a teenager, she became a runaway and entered foster care. Because of this, she attended Provo, Timpview, and Orem high schools, and graduated in 2006 from Spanish Fork High School. Keira eventually made her way to Utah Valley University where she was an Outstanding Student graduating with honors in Psychology. She was the first in her family to graduate from High School and University. She founded The Provo Promise scholarship in 2016 for children who are residents of Provo to provide them with an opportunity to receive a college education.Keira is married to Nicholas Scholz, and together they have three sons.
As Superintendent Keith Rittel stated at the meeting, “Keira’s story is a Provo story. It is a story about resiliency, tenacity and a willingness to struggle through challenging times. It is also a story about service, community and a willingness to give of ourselves. In many ways I am sure, Keira’s story is why many of us in this room choose to teach.”
Keira was able to share her story with the audience and expressed her gratitude for Provo City School District and the teachers in helping raise her. She shared some excerpts from her memoir, entitled “How the Light Gets In”, which included the following:
As Keira shared her moving story, there was not a dry eye in the auditorium. Teachers were able to be reminded of the powerful impact that their job has. As our district theme for this year is “Why I Teach”, this provided an incredible transition into the introduction of the theme to the audience.
Thank you Keira for your presentation and powerful impact you left on our school district. To learn more about “The Provo Promise” scholarship that Keira founded, visit The Provo Promise website.
“She's always coming in positive and happy,” said Noelle Lewis, Emma Hernandez’s nominator...
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