By COLLIN BREAUXDue to her perseverance with the performing arts and positive demeanor, Roulhac Middle School (RMS) student Breanna Kopinski was awarded a two-year college scholarship from the Florida TaxWatch Principal Leadership Award on Friday, Feb. 2.
Kopinski received the award after being nominated by Principal Nancy Holley, who conferred with school teachers when deciding on the student who would receive the scholarship.
The school was selected to choose one student for a scholarship after Holley was previously awarded a Middle School Principal of the Year recognition from Florida TaxWatch, a nonpartisan watchdog organization. The scholarship is in conjunction with the Florida Prepaid College Foundation and Florida Lottery.
“This student has demonstrated tremendous effort and growth throughout her middle school years,” Holley said of Kopinski during an assembly of students and community members in the Roulhac Middle auditorium. “She brings great energy to class daily. She has that combination of a positive attitude and the belief that she can always improve, that’s rare in a middle school student but so essential to the learning process.”
Holley said school staff and administrators first met Kopinski’s family after they were displaced due to Hurricane Katrina. Kopinski is in the 7th grade and youngest of eight siblings.
“They all came into our school system with some hesitation. They were temporarily living in a motel with some extended family,” Holley said. “There were some ups and downs as they got settled in and we have now seen the four oldest siblings graduate, two of them going straight to college on a scholarship.”
Kopinski has played an instrument all throughout middle school.
“Your classmate also excels in the classroom but she is a part of our Beta Club, with her current all-A status,” Holley said. “She also joined the RMS Debate Team for the first time this year and is making great strides in learning those new life skills.”
Kopinski is “trustworthy, reliable, and good-humored” and “a friend who supports others in and out of the classroom,” Holley said.
“I’m confident she will continue to demonstrate the same diligence, perseverance, and optimism that she has shown me and her teachers,” Holley said.
Staff Report