by Tim Bojarski, president, Upstate New York Chapter USHWA

Akron, NY — The members of the Upstate New York Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association are proud to announce that Kayla Prentice is the recipient of the 2013 Dewey Degree Scholarship.

Kayla Prentice

Prentice graduated from the Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School with high honors this year and stood out among her peers for several reasons. She carried a 4.0 GPA for four consecutive years, was a scholar athlete in two sports and received the school’s President’s Award for excellence as well.

During her time there, she was described as “a joiner” and was very active in school and community service activities as a member of the National Honor Society, the Red Cross Club, LEAD USA and Relay for Life.

She was also a member of the cross country and track teams where she served as captain for both. Besides her school activities she also worked several part time jobs for small businesses and families in her community as well as helping her family with their stable both in the morning and on race nights.

In her application, Prentice pointed out that “Not many kids can say they grew up with parents in the harness horse industry, and even fewer can say that they had the experience of nursing a harness horse with a broken leg back to health. Perhaps this is where my love for helping others developed.”

And it was that experience that prompted her to pursue a career in physical therapy. Prentice will be attending Syracuse University this fall, majoring in health and exercise science as well as pre-med.

Kayla Prentice is the daughter of Jessica and Howard Okusko, Jr. who are both longtime trainers (and driver) at Vernon Downs and she will receive her check in the winner’s circle that her parents so often visit, on Sunday (Aug. 25), the same night that will feature the $700,000 Zweig Memorial Trot and the first round of the $50,000 Drivers’ Championship.

The Dewey Degree Scholarship is funded through generous donations from Ray Schnittker and Jeff Gural and is administered by the Upstate New York Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association. It was named after Schnittker’s great Hambletonian winning trotter Deweycheatumnhowe.