BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Chelsea Herndon was presented as this year’s recipient of the Betty Warren Memorial Scholarship at the May 2 meeting of the Col. Samuel Elbert Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, at Montgomery Presbyterian Conference Center.
Herndon, a 2021 Bradford High School graduate, was presented with a $1,000 check by Jeff Warren, who’s one of Betty Warren’s sons.
“I have a special feeling today because my wife has a master’s in Speech Pathology,” Warren said. “That is what Chelsea wants to do.”
Herndon said, “It’s a hard journey, but from all my research, I’ve learned that’s what I really want to do.”
The Col. Samuel Elbert Chapter began awarding the annual scholarship in 2005. It’s presented to a Santa Fe College student who’s working toward a medical-related degree or a degree in either Education or American History.
“Right now, I currently work as a (certified nursing assistant),” Herndon said. “That’s kind of taught me that I really do love helping people. That kind of got me into looking at careers for helping. Speech Pathology is what I landed on.”
Herndon said she plans to eventually attend Florida Atlantic University, which she heard has a good Speech Pathology program.
The scholarship is named after Betty Eileen Dye Warren, a longtime resident of Starke who was active in First Baptist Church of Starke, the hospital auxiliary and the Col. Samuel Elbert Chapter, NSDAR.
Warren, who was born in 1924 in rural West Virginia, grew up during the Great Depression and didn’t have many opportunities — and wasn’t encouraged — to achieve an advanced education. She found a way to attend the University of West Virginia for a short time, but soon left to join the wartime workforce with the FBI in Washington, D.C.
Though she never had the opportunity to return to college full-time, Warren placed a high value on lifelong learning — something she did through her love of books.
Warren passed away in 2003.
