Dr. Graves announces three scholarships at the opening day assembly
Three GPS Upper School students received notable in-school scholarships for the 2019-20 school year at the opening day assembly.
Astra Burke ’20 received the Grace McCallie Scholarship, awarded to the rising senior who has maintained the highest GPA. The scholarship was established in 1918 in memory of Grace McCallie, one of the school’s co-founders.
Astra is co-president of Computer Science Club and SWENext Club. She participates in science troupe, where students learn science lessons and then teach those lessons to children at Glenwood Community Center each month. The recipient of two The National Center for Women & Information Technology awards (the second of which included a grant), Astra organized and ran, along with her club members and teachers, a week-long computer science day camp this past summer for second- through fifth-grade girls. She also plays club soccer in the spring. Astra received the Duffy-Jarnagin award last year.
Lily DuPlooy ’21 and Maggie Parsley ’21, who share the highest GPA of their class, received this year’s Duffy-Jarnagin Scholarship, awarded annually to a rising junior. The scholarship was established in memory of two of our school’s co-founders, Tommie Payne Duffy and Eula Lea Jarnagin. Award criteria state that the girl “should be highly respected by her class” and have qualities of integrity and loyalty. Scholarship and service to the school also play a part in the award decision.
Lily plays first violin in GPS Honors Orchestra and is involved in the Advanced Senior Orchestra. She runs in her free time and last year took part in the Chattanooga Marathon relay event. In the year prior, she ran in the Atlanta Hot Chocolate 15K. She also likes to paint, and last year was part of the Fiddler on the Roof spring musical, where she did tech and behind-the-scenes work. This year she will participate in a research internship program at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, which will help guide her decision to perhaps become a future researcher.
Maggie is an editor for Calliope, the GPS literary magazine, and a member of the varsity cross country team. An avid runner, Maggie has completed three half-marathons. She also plays the piano and enjoys practicing in her spare time. She has performed on numerous occasions, including in a solo recital last year to celebrate 10 years of piano. She also recently began volunteering to teach English as a second language to local refugees. Maggie plans to improve her Spanish (and eventually begin learning Arabic) in order to better communicate with her students.