Saint Paul Teen Awarded Teaching Scholarship

Jacob Resneck/KMXT

A high school senior on St. Paul Island has been awarded a full scholarship by the University of Phoenix. Anna Melovidov was one of 50 recipients nationwide of a "Teaching It Forward" scholarship. She had been nominated by Alaska Teacher of the Year Lorrie Heagy of Juneau.

Melovidov will complete her teaching degree online from her home on St. Paul Island. She already works at her local school in the Pribilofs. In her application essay she wrote: "I feel I should stay put at home to continue my experiences with our school as well as helping with improvements and concerns."

The scholarship will cover full tuition which is currently about $60,000 at the private, for-profit University of Phoenix.

The announcement came this week at the annual Future Educators of Alaska Statewide Student Gathering at the University of Alaska Southeast.