Scholarships for two Corona teens come in wake of tragedy

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By Jonathan Coronel

Driving around in his beat-up minivan, always wearing an infectious smile, Blake Norvell was a fixture of the Corona del Sol class of 2006. Friends and family alike remember Blake as the “glue” that held the class together with his positive, outgoing personality and high level of academic achievement.

Being a high achieving student, it is only fitting that after Blake’s sudden and unexpected death that a Smile Scholarship was established as a memorial to the bright young man with a grin that could light up the room.

For the past two years the scholarship was a single $1,000 check awarded to a Corona student who exemplified the qualities for which Blake was so well known. This year, Blake’s family and friends were able to award scholarships to two fortunate Corona students.

“We raised money this year by reaching out to a variety of businesses, from skydiving to paintball companies. Most importantly, one of Blake’s close friends, Chris Pham, recently wrote a book and dedicated the first $10,000 in sales to our scholarship foundation,” Blake’s mother, Stephanie Norvell, said.

The annual stipend is available to Corona students who have a minimum 3.0 GPA. In addition to the GPA requirement, applicants must write answers to prompts asking them anything from their future life goals to the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to them.

This year’s winners are Savannah Levos and Jisung Woo. Savannah plans to attend Chandler-Gilbert Community College for a year before transferring to ASU to pursue her goal of becoming a music therapist and sign language interpreter.

Jisung is currently deciding between attending Thunderbird School of Global Management or W.P. Carey at ASU to study marketing.

This was the first year that Stephanie Norvell was able to surprise each student with an oversized $1,000 check during class.

“At first I didn’t realize what was going on. But then it dawned on me what was happening and I got so happy and excited!” Savannah says cheerily.

Jisung was busy studying for a Spanish test when he was suddenly startled with the news of his accomplishment.

“I had no idea I was going to win this. It was a really great surprise,” he said.

Norvell says with the help of Pham’s sizeable donation, and with plans for another big fundraiser on Thanksgiving this year, she sees the scholarship sticking around for quite some time.

That’s sure to put a smile on Corona students’ faces, and Blake Norvell is no doubt smiling from on high, as well.

 

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