Watauga Ed Foundation Announces Kate Swift Reese Scholarship

The Watauga Education Foundation is now accepting applications from college-bound Watauga High School (WHS) seniors for the Kate Swift Reese Scholarship. At $1,000, the scholarship is a noteworthy addition to the funds that are available to local students for post-secondary education.

“We couldn’t be more excited to be able to administer this financial gift,” said Allocations Chairwoman Emily Greene.

The surviving children of Asa and Kate Swift Reese, long-time Beaver Dam residents, established the endowment this past year. Much admired, Miss Kate was best known for showing kindness to all she encountered and for being a natural born educator.

“Our mother instilled the importance of education in each of her 10 children and all of those whose lives she touched,” said Clint Reese, who lives in Fuquay Varina with his wife Maude. “During the Depression, she cooked three meals a day, tended a garden, made clothes for the children, washed their clothes with soap that she made and canned meat and vegetables that were raised on the farm. She made certain that everyone attended church on Sunday, and she even found time to prepare and teach Sunday School for more than 30 years.”

Miss Kate also served as the regional director of the North Carolina Agriculture Extension Service.

The scholarship will be awarded this May to a WHS student who epitomizes Miss Kate’s spirit of helping others. Applications for the scholarship are available on the Watauga Education Foundation’s website by clicking to www.wefnc.org and through guidance counselors at WHS. Applications must be received by Monday, March 1.

Eligible students are those who graduate from WHS, are enrolled in an accredited institution of higher education in the U.S., who demonstrate excellence in academic achievement, citizenship and community involvement and who clearly demonstrate a need for the scholarship.

Many Reese family members have worked for the Watauga County Schools system, including former WHS principal and school board chair Andy Reese, who passed away in December 2009. Other Reese siblings are Asa L. Reese (deceased), Norman Reese, Kathleen Reese, Richard Reese, Gladys Shoun, Betty Shoun, Clint Reese, Dorcas Hodges and Lance Reese (deceased).

The Watauga Education Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to enhancing education for students of Watauga County public schools. For more information about the foundation’s programs and giving opportunities, click to www.wefnc.org.