Motivated Minds
More than 40 students with physical disabilities earn scholarships for college.
By AMBER MOBLEY
Published April 23, 2006
ODESSA - A pink feather boa wound around her neck, over her wheelchair and nearly touched the ground as Lequina Knox, 13, sang Deborah Cox's hit R&B song How Did You Get Here on Saturday afternoon.
A student at Thurgood Marshall Middle School in St. Petersburg, Lequina has cerebral palsy, a disorder that affects muscle coordination.
But she didn't let it stop her song.
Lequina and dozens of other teens with severe physical disabilities gathered to sing and celebrate Saturday in a field on Carencia Lane in Odessa.
They had reason to celebrate: More than singers, these students are scholars who came to receive college scholarships from the ChairScholars Foundation.
In association with the Education Foundations of Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Polk counties, the foundation awarded scholarships to more than 40 physically challenged students.
Sponsors adopted an American Idol theme.
Co-founded by Alicia and Hugo Keim in 1992, ChairScholars began with only two students. It has since awarded 458 scholarships to students with severe physical disabilities such as blindness, lupus, spina bifida, cerebral palsy and amputations.
Students are from needy families. They must agree to stay drug- and crime-free to retain their scholarships.
Nationally, 63 ChairScholars have graduated from colleges and universities. Nearly 70 currently attend institutes of higher learning.
The mantra "No physical impairment should deter a motivated mind" was emblazoned on signs and banners around the festival. And that, said Hugo Keim, is the heart of the program.
For students such as Lequina, who wants to study journalism at the University of Florida or Spelman College in Atlanta, it means getting closer to a brighter future.
Ericka Knox, Lequina's mother, summed it up in a simple phrase: "It's a true blessing."
Amber Mobley can be reached at 813 269-5311 or amobley@sptimes.com