Inaugural Superintendent’s Scholarship Goes to Recent Dunbar Graduate

Superintendent Manny Caulk presented the inaugural Superintendent’s Scholarship to Abigail Wheatley, a 2019 graduate of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School who intends to study Special Education this fall at Bluegrass Community & Technical College.

“I was really caught off guard,” said Wheatley, who accepted the honor Aug. 7 during the State of the Schools at the Lexington Convention Center. “Mr. Caulk has done a lot for me my whole high school career, so it means a great deal that I’m the first recipient,” she said.

A friend from Dunbar’s Lamplighter student newspaper had invited her to the event, where she heard Caulk cite a few of her accomplishments. For instance, Wheatley was an award-winning writer and editor in chief of the PLD Lamplighter, vice president of the school’s Gay Straight Alliance, and a member of the district’s Student Voice Team.

“She made a huge impression on me for her passion in the area of equity and willingness to speak truth to power,” Caulk said in his introduction of Wheatley.

As the Kentucky Association for School Administrators’ 2019 Superintendent of the Year, Caulk received $2,500 from KASA and American Fidelity for the student scholarship. However, he announced it will be an annual award that he will personally fund as long as he serves as superintendent in Fayette County Public Schools.