Nolan named as PCHS 2010 Student of the Year
Donovan is the son of Preston and Robin Nolan, the brother of Chelsea Nolan, the grandson of Cathy Watson, all of Stanton, and the grandson of the late Robert Demmons and Buck and Arvetta Nolan.
During his high school career, Donovan was selected as the Youth Salute Outstanding Leader from PCHS, he was twice voted Student of the Week by the school’s faculty and staff, and he has counseled younger students about the dangers of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco as a leader in DARE (Drug and Alcohol Resistance Education) and TATU (Teens Against Tobacco Use). As the president of the Key Club,
Donovan has organized community service projects including a food drive and a radio auction to raise money for Christmas gifts for children who wouldn’t otherwise receive anything. He has also helped to raise money for the Salvation Army and for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.
For the past two years, Donovan has dressed up as Santa Clause for the annual children’s party at the high school organized by Glynda Bowen and the Youth Service Center. “Donovan is interested in the youth of Powell County and is willing to do anything to help any child,” said Mrs. Bowen. “He wants to be a positive influence and he’s been a joy to work with.”
Another example of Donovan willing to share his time with younger students is his participation in peer tutoring. Every day this year during second period, he traveled to Stanton Elementary to read to his little buddy, third grade student Raymond Campbell. Also, as a part-time employee at Whitaker Bank, Donovan was able to participate as a volunteer presenter at a recent Special Olympics.
Donovan is an accomplished athlete who was recently voted Most Athletic by his graduating class. He was a member of the Pirate basketball team for four years and academic all-state all four years. According to his coach, Brian Hall, “Donovan is an excellent leader, which can clearly be seen with this past season’s basketball team. As one of our senior captains, he was our leading rebounder who helped lead our team from only three wins last season to 56th District Runners-up and 14th Region Tournament participants this year. He was an integral part of our team’s successful transformation.”
Donovan also played football his freshman year, and ran cross-country his senior year, winning the Red River Conference GPA Award. He considers his greatest accomplishment as a runner to have never finished last in any competition.
In addition to all of his achievements inside and outside the classroom during his high school years, perhaps the most lasting impression Donovan will leave is the personal connection he made with so many people. His calculus teacher, Stacy Linn, describes this best:
“In the hallways I always see Donovan smiling and talking to friends. He includes everyone in his conversations and does not consider anyone an outsider to his ‘group of friends’. I would dare say that Donovan calls everyone in the school his friend.”
Student of the Year is a program sponsored by the PTO and recognizes those senior students who are role models in the areas of study, effort, cooperation, and attitude, and were previously selected as Student of the Week. The selection is made by a vote of teachers.
(Note: The Times would like to congratulate all of the students who won Student of the Week, those nominated and of course, Donovan. Thanks to Mr. Tim Jones for providing this feature each week.)