For more than 30 years, Fonnie Powell Dinkins was an educator in Anson County Schools. Her career was so close to her heart that upon her death, she bequeathed $60,000 for a scholarship for needy, deserving students at Anson High School.
“Ms. Fonnie” Dinkins, as she was known, was a teacher and former coach at the old Morven High School, and coached a championship basketball team. She was also an assistant principal at Anson Junior High School. She retired in 1980.
“I am so proud of my mother,” said her daughter, Junel Dinkins, in a phone interview. “She passed away last July, and bequeathed a scholarship in her name.”
The scholarship will fund $1,000-1,500 for two African-American AHS students each year.
“Mother asked that the scholarships be provided to African-American students,” Dinkins said.
Fonnie Dinkins also willed that Marilynn Bennett, one of her former students and a current member of the Anson County Board of Education, be a member of the scholarship committee.
“She was my favorite teacher,” Bennett said.
She added that in addition to the requirement that the two students per year be African-American, the scholarship committee will also be looking at grades and community service. “We will look at their school and community activities,” Bennett said. “They will write an essay and tell us why they deserve this scholarship.”
The hope is that the scholarships will go to one male and female each year, she added, but it may not always turn out that way.
Originally posted on the Anson Record
