Staff writer
After she was told in December that she would be receiving national recognition for her academic achievements, Marion High School senior Ariel Depler planned to attend the Council for Exceptional Children award ceremony to receive a “Yes I Can!” award April 27 in Washington D.C.
Depler will fly to Washington D.C. April 26 with her mother Dana and MHS Principal Brenda Odgers to attend the award rehearsal and banquet the next day. On April 28, students will be taken for a sightseeing tour.
Depler is one of three academic winners of the Yes I Can! award and is among 24 students from the U.S. who won in the areas of academics, arts, athletics, community service, employment, extracurricular activities, independent living skills, self-advocacy, and technology.
The past two years, Depler has been an honor-roll student at MHS while taking some of the most difficult classes the school offers. She has accomplished this feat despite a learning disability severe enough that she started high school in special education classes.
“She has made great strides in her approach to learning,” MHS chemistry teacher Bruce Rhodes said. “She has become much more focused on learning the material and works diligently making sure she internalizes concepts.”
To help with traveling costs, Depler has received a $500 stipend from CEC, but it still was not enough to cover all costs. Odgers has asked Marion organizations to donate what they can to help Depler. So far, the 20th Century Club, Tampa State Bank, and Marion Ministerial Alliance have donated to help cover expenses.
The Ministerial Alliance donated $100.
“It’s not something we do very often; this was a unique circumstance,” Marion Presbyterian Church Pastor Jeremiah Lange said as a representative of the ministerial alliance. “We thought that it was something she should be able to participate in.”