(Clockwise from top) Rachel, Anna, Vanessa, and Debra Nelson
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The Debra Nelson Memorial Scholarship Fund
It has been said that the human spirit excels in adversity. In reality, adversity can and often does hinder the human spirit. Excelling in adversity is a choice that extraordinary people make. There is no better example of this truism than the story of the life of Debra Nelson. Despite unbearable physical and emotional hardships, Debra Nelson chose to positively impact the life of every person with whom she made contact, none more so than her three daughters, Rachel, Anna, and Vanessa.
Debra Nelson was in a coma, not expected to regain consciences when Anna and Vanessa were enrolled as charter members at NYOS. Her possessions had been sold or distributed amongst family members, her home was gone, and her daughters had been sent to live in Texas with their father. Life seemed to have moved on.
To everyone’s amazement, Debra Nelson recovered and after many months of physical therapy arrived at NYOS to see her daughters. It was our first encounter with this wonderful woman. For the next three years we would exchange emails and phone calls, as she remained active in her daughters' lives from medical treatment centers in Utah. In October of 2002, Debra lost her courageous battle with ARDS. Her daughters had lost her once again.
At NYOS, we have learned much about Debra Nelson, not from our short time with her, but in the daily interactions with those she left behind, left in our care. Indeed, she did raise three exceptional young ladies.
The 2003-04 school year was a big year at NYOS. We celebrated the first graduating class of NYOS Charter School and among the first to graduate was one of Debra Nelson’s daughters, Anna.
The NYOS Governing Council has established a scholarship fund to aid our seniors in their post secondary careers. The Debra Nelson Memorial Scholarship Fund will acknowledge outstanding students who have maintained academic excellence and have made a positive, extraordinary impact in their school and community.
We ask you to join us in this effort to identify and assist those who would follow in the footsteps of Debra Nelson, to live an extraordinary life. |
