Trade School Scholarship Being Created in Memory of Wheeling Park High School Student Devin Sovinsky
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TRIADELPHIA -- Devin Sovinsky had aspirations of becoming a mechanic after high school. Now the family of the late 17-year-old wants to help others interested in trade school in Devin's name.
The Devin Sovinsky Trade Scholarship will not only provide Wheeling Park High School students with the funds to help them attend vocational school, but it will also serve as a way to honor Sovinsky's memory.
Sovinsky died July 18 in a one-car crash on Bethany Pike that injured the two others in the car. He would have been a senior this year at WPHS.
"His dad and I are extremely proud of all the kids he has touched, and we want to make sure that people never forget who he was and what he was about," said Sovinsky's mother, Bobbi Porter. "We just want to give back in his name for the scholarship."
The money for the scholarship will be raised through a spaghetti dinner that will be held on Sept. 9. At the dinner, donations for the scholarship will be collected, along with the funds raised through a 50/50 raffle, a Chinese auction and other raffles with prizes.
Bev Wolf, who has been friends with Sovinsky's parents since 1989, took the reins in organizing the scholarship as she explained she has helped with many memorial fundraisers over the years.
Wolf's motivation in organizing the scholarship and benefit came from her volunteer work with other memorial fundraisers, where she noticed that it often seemed once someone was "put in the ground," it was as if they were "no more." She does not want this same phenomenon to happen to Sovinsky.
"By the time the funeral and wake are over, I don't want everyone to forget about Devin," explained Wolf. "I've seen it happen before with other fundraisers, it happens all the time."
The scholarship is trade school specific because Sovinsky was a "trade kind of kid," according to Wolf. Porter noted that Sovinsky "grew up at Middle Creek Garage" and that he "learned as he went" while fixing up his prized 2006 Ford Mustang.
"He loved every minute of fixing up that car, whether he was working on it with his grandpa or his friends," said Porter. "He learned little by little, and his father and I want to fulfill someone else's trade school dreams because of his dedication."
"Devin and his friends, they're just country boys who like to work on their souped-up muscle cars," added Wolf. "They're just trade kind of kids, and we wanted to honor that."
Porter explained that another main motivator for making the scholarship go to a student attending a trade school was that very few scholarships are catered to students with vocational school aspirations.
"We just wanted to make sure these kids are getting the same opportunities as the athletes and band members," added Porter. "Some kids don't want to go to an actual college but a trade school instead, and that takes money as well."
Porter said she came to this realization while talking to one of Sovinsky's friends at his funeral. The friend told her they wanted to go into the automotive field, but they would have to pay out-of-pocket to get the training they needed, which was money they did not have.
"There's nothing out there to support kids who want to do a trade," said Porter. "Our main goal is to make sure all kids get a chance to do something they want to do."
While the scholarship is "ready to go logistics-wise," said Wolf, they now need "the funds" so the scholarship can continue awarding $500 to a student every year. According to Walt Saunders, the Assessment and Federal Programs Director for Ohio County Schools, $10,000 needs to be raised initially so that the interest alone can pay for the scholarship each year.
"Once we hit that $10,000 mark, we can just sit back and just let the scholarship roll each year off the interest," explained Wolf. "We can do benefits and fundraisers, but there won't be as much need to."
On what other benefits and fundraisers the Wolf and the Sovinskys plan to organize after the initial spaghetti dinner, Wolf said that they plan to do "simple little things just to keep his name out there." Events they are considering are an annual steak fry, a bowling tournament or a car wash.
"Rust to Riches," a truck and car club Sovinsky was a founding member of, is kicking off the fundraising effort by holding a car show this Saturday in Cabela's Parking Lot in Sovinsky's memory.
While the proceeds raised from the car show are going to pay for Sovinsky's headstone, Porter said they plan to make the fundraising event annual. The funds after this year's show will go towards the scholarship.
"Devin's not here anymore to go to a trade school," said Wolf. "So we figured his friends, his friends' friends and the kids after him could always benefit from a trade scholarship to keep his memory alive."