Aleah D. Wagner was named the 24th recipient of the Lenoris E. Abrams Sr. Student Academic Scholarship Award of $1,000.

She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lee and Denise Wagner of Thomasville and is a member of the Thomasville High School graduating class of 2017.

Wagner was a member of the National Honors Society. She was named to the A/B Honor Roll numerous times and received an award for the highest average in her government class. She received the Louann Pilcher Leadership Award in 2017 for her participation as both a football and competition squad cheerleader. Wagner also ran track and holds the school record in the 100-meter hurdles. She finished in the top eight in the state in the 100 hurdles in three of her four years at THS. During her sophomore year, the THS girls track team finished second in the state at the Class AA level.

Wagner has been a member of the Teens in Action group for four years and participated in the Emerging Young Leaders program sponsored by the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. She participated in the Chamber of Commerce Youth Leadership program for two years and helped raise money for various local organizations. 

She will be attending Savannah State University this fall and plans to major in business marketing. She is a member at Providence Missionary Baptist Church 

Presenting the Abrams award on Thomasville High School’s Honors Night on May 16 was Karl Abrams, the son of the late Lenoris E. Abrams Sr.

The award was established by Providence Missionary Baptist Church and the Abrams’ family in 1994 in honoring Deacon Lenoris E. Abrams Sr. Deacon Abrams’ greatest concerns were that students need to continue their education once they graduate from high school. He was an educator and community leader and Thomas County commissioner. Deacon Abrams believed in helping his family, his church, community and anyone who needed his assistance.

Deacon Abrams taught vocational agriculture in Wilcox, Mitchell and Thomas counties schools for 32 years, retiring in 1989 from Thomas County, where he successfully won a seat on the county commission, District 7, before his death in 1992.

Providence Missionary Baptist Church, former pastor Rev. James C. Vaughn and the church coordinated with the family to establish this annual award in 1994, and to date, this award has provided over $24,000 to 24 graduates from Thomasville/Thomas County schools. Many of the recipients have completed various technical schools, colleges, universities and medical schools. Still some are continuing to further their education. Rev. Dr. Emory C. Virgil, pastor, and the Providence family expressed a sincere thanks to Providence members, the Abrams family, community friends and former recipients of the Abrams Scholarship award for the financial support they have provided to make this award possible and to see that ii will continue into the future. 

March 1 of each year is the deadline for submitting the Abrams Scholarship award application to the Providence Scholarship Committee, said James “Jack” Hadley, past president and scholarship committee coordinator. Deacon M.T. Brown, president, encourages seniors to submit the application that can be obtained from Providence Missionary Baptist Church’s office any time after November of each year.