Lillian Perkins Morse Scholarship 2005

The Waynesboro Players announce the award of two scholarships for the 2004-2005 season.  The Lillian Perkins Morse Scholarship has been awarded to one area high school senior since its inception in 2002.  This year was an exception.  Nicole Teerlink of Stuarts Draft High School and Katie Thomas of Ridgeview Christian School received the $500 award.   

“We had two very strong candidates,” says Sandi Belcher, Chair of the Scholarship Committee, “so we decided the best course of action was to select both of them.” 

Nicole Teerlink, a 2005 graduate of Stuarts Draft High School, has been performing on stage since she was a freshman in high school.  She has performed in numerous productions, and she has sung in Concert Choir, Select Show Choir and the Shenandoah Valley Children’s choir.  She was a member of the Drama Club, International Thespian Society, National Honor Society, and National Art Honor Society.  She also mentored at a local elementary school instructing children in singing and performance.  All of this, and more, was accomplished while maintaining a 3.9 GPA.  Nicole says, “I feel most at home on a stage in front of an energetic and enthusiastic audience, and my deepest desire is to give all of my audiences an experience that can’t be equaled or forgotten.”  She has the opportunity to continue doing just that, as she has begun work as a performer at King’s Dominion for the summer.  Nicole will be attending college this fall and plans to pursue opportunities in music and theater. 

Katie Thomas, a 2005 graduate of Ridgeview Christian School, has been performing on stage since she was very young.  She appeared as Louise in the Waynesboro Players’ 2000 production of “Sunday in the Park with George”, and as the lead role of Anne in the 2004 production of “Anne of Green Gables”.  She is active in the theater programs at school and church, placed first in the Regional Fine Arts Competition from 1999 to 2005, and worked on many productions locally both on the stage and behind the scenes.  She is a member of the National Honor Society and Who’s Who Among American High School Students, has mentored the children in her church in various theatrical productions, and maintained a 3.59 GPA.  She says, “If you were to ask any of my friends what comes to mind when you think of Katie, I guarantee you that many of them would say ‘Miss Theater’”.  Katie will be attending Liberty University in the fall, studying theater.  She then has hopes to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. 

“Both of these young women epitomize the true spirit of the Lillian Perkins Morse Scholarship”, says Belcher.

Pictured are Joe Morse, Katie Thomas, and Charlie Lawson. Not pictured, Nicole Teerlink.