Hickory Daily Record Hickory Nc

Hickory Daily Record

HICKORY, N.C. -- Mary Grace Sheets has worked hard to get where she is. Near the top of her senior class at Newton-Conover High School, the 17-year-old admits her success is the result of hard work.

Sheets was diagnosed with dyslexia in sixth grade.

“When they tested me, I was at the first grade (reading) level,” she said. “I wasn’t reading, I just memorized what the teacher said.”

Sheets still managed to earn As in her classes using this technique, but was not truly learning the material, she said. After learning she had dyslexia, Sheets got a tutor. She overcame her disability with a new way of learning.

“I touch and trace the symbols with the pad of my finger,” Sheets said. “I say the sound. I use a different part of my brain. I started over with the vowels and consonants, with how it sounds.”

She is still making As in her classes, but this time she is actually reading her assignments to earn her grades.

And she has earned a scholarship for her efforts. Sheets was awarded the Patrick Beaver Scholarship, worth $2,300 a year, as long as she maintains her grades. In the essay that accompanied her application, Sheets’ wrote about her dyslexia. She said she was proud to receive the scholarship.

“A Newton-Conover kid hasn’t gotten the scholarship in awhile,” she said.

She’ll apply the scholarship toward her Appalachian State University tuition, where she’ll attend in the fall.

“I’d been looking around at in-state schools. I wanted to be close enough to come home,” Sheets said. “I also looked at the bands. I’m a big band geek.”

Sheets plays the oboe and flute, but what she really loves is to be in command, directing. She was selected as the drum major her junior and senior year.

“I didn’t expect it my junior year,” Sheets said, adding that it was difficult to be in charge as a junior. “None of the seniors wanted to listen to me. This year, I made it my own. I directed better. There are more dynamics, I improved the cue cutoffs. The band director helped me.”

Sheets plans to be in Appalachian’s marching band, as well, but is thinking about changing to alto sax when she switches to a new school.

“They only have the piccolo, not the flute,” she said. “My mom plays the sax, so she’ll help me.”

Sheets is interested in studying psychology when she goes to college, and eventually becoming an occupational therapist.

Miller's Hickory, North Carolina city directory, including Longview

FRESH AIR MARKET Phones 179 & 734-W HICKORY, NC (1947-1948) CITY DIRECTORY 269 ... h 1314 2d McEvoy J Poynter (Kathryn T) adv mgr Hickory Daily Record, ...

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1, 1894-Aug. 22, 1894 Sept. 5, 1894-Oct. 17, 1894 Oct. 31, 1894 Nov. 28, 1894- Dec. 12, 1894 HICKORY, NC Hickory Daily Record — Hickory, NC ...

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American; Hickory (NC) Daily Record; Ardmore (Okla.) Ardmoreite. Oklahoma City ( Okla.) Oklahoman; Brownsville (Tex.) Sentinel; Austin (Tex. ...

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