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New NAACP scholarship at PVCC goes to 3 students

Piedmont Virginia Community College named the first three recipients of an NAACP scholarship in the memory of Tamyra Kaye Turner, a former professor of English at PVCC known for her devotion to her students.

On Oct. 17, stipends and a scholarship totaling $3,500 were awarded to students Ny’Asia Carter, Djamila Sanda and Michael Turner.

The scholarship, established by the Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP Branch, will be awarded annually to PVCC students enrolled in Liberal Arts or General Studies in recognition of Turner’s dedication to students.

“Tamyra Turner demonstrated a profound belief in her students and their futures," said PVCC President Jean Runyon. "Her legacy of inspiration and confidence in the transformative power of education will continue in the lives of our scholarship recipients. We are exceedingly grateful to the Turner family and to the NAACP.”

Carter, a Louisa High School graduate, and Michael Turner, a Nelson County High School graduate, both received a $1,000 stipend award. They expressed their gratitude and emphasized the importance of paying forward the opportunities and support that have been shown to them. Both hope to transfer to Virginia Commonwealth University, they said.

Sanda was awarded a $1,500 scholarship.

“I am so thankful for this scholarship,” she said. “This will help me achieve so much. I want to keep working hard so that I may one day be able to give back in the capacity of Mrs. Turner.”

In addition to being a PVCC student, Sanda works at the University of Virginia Hospital and aspires to transfer to UVa to earn her bachelor’s and master’s degrees after graduating from PVCC.

Tamyra Turner was an active member of the Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP Branch. Her community involvement also included serving on the Charlottesville School Board from 1993-1996; as a board member of the Jefferson Madison Regional Library from 2012-16; as an advisory board member of the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center in 2008; and as a steering committee member for the Virginia Festival of the Book. She founded the City of Charlottesville’s Juneteenth Celebration in 2000, which was held at PVCC until 2016.

Local NAACP chapter members, along with several of Turner’s family members, formally presented the scholarship awards to the students.

“It is such an honor to be able to remember this very special woman, Tamyra Turner, and these first award recipients in this way,” said Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP Branch President Janette Boyd Martin, president of the Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP Branch.

Source: www.dailyprogress.com

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