Clarke Central High School senior Wyatt Meyer sits in the Eve Carson Memorial Garden on May 20. A committee of CCHS faculty and staff selected Meyer as the recipient of the Eve Carson Humanitarian Spirit Award, which was announced at Senior Honors Night on May 19. “I’ve noticed that other faculty members and other people that work in the office and have had experiences with (Meyer) where he’s just done something really kind or gone out of his way to be helpful when he didn’t need to be helpful,” CCHS school counselor Heidi Nibbelink, a committee member, said. “That’s all evidence that he’s a very deserving recipient of this award.” Photo by Emlyn McKinney
CCHS senior Wyatt Meyer was announced as the winner of the Eve Carson Humanitarian Spirit Award at Senior Honors Night on May 19.
In 2009, the Foundation for Excellence in Public Education created the Eve Carson Humanitarian Spirit Award to honor the life of Clarke Central High School Class of 2004 alumna Eve Carson.
Every year since, each Clarke County School District school has selected a fifth grader, eighth grader and senior who embodies Carson’s values of community and open-mindedness to receive the award. Carson was a dedicated student and an active member of her schools’ communities, as CCHS’ Class of 2004 valedictorian and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student body president in 2007.
CCHS science department teacher Sophia Campbell, who graduated from CCHS with Carson, remembers the alumna for her sincerity and enthusiasm.
“Eve was an amazing human. She saw the good in people, was genuine (and) lit up any room she entered,” Campbell said. “(Eve was) definitely no one you could ever forget. She made you feel seen.”
A graphic shows the past Clarke Central High School recipients of the Eve Carson Humanitarian Spirit Award. School counselor Heidi Nibbelink is part of the committee that selected the winners and believes that recognizing students who share Carson’s values is an important tradition to uphold. “(Carson) is what people here aspire to be and the community that we try to create here that’s so inclusive of everyone,” Nibbelink said. “The Eve Carson award in particular represents the best ideals of what a Clarke Central student and human being is.” Data compiled by David Ragsdale, graphic by Lea D’Angelo
After nominations are compiled for the award, recipients of the ECHSA are selected by a committee of CCHS personnel led by English department co-chair David Ragsdale.
“(The committee) solicits nominations from the entire faculty, and then out of those, we put together a packet for each student,” CCHS school counselor Heidi Nibbelink, a member of the committee, said. “We’re looking at what the recommender said about them (and) other markers, (such as) grades and what kind of classes they took. (However,) it’s more about how you (live) your life that (makes) you (eligible) for the award.”
The majority of the committee consists of people who knew Carson when she attended CCHS, which Nibbelink believes is important for accurately selecting a recipient for the ECHSA.
“The farther in time you get away from that person (an award is named after), the more that name doesn’t have all this meaning attached to it anymore,” Nibbelink said. “Having (a) more personal connection to (Carson) helps you know what qualities in the (award) recipient that (the committee) would be looking for that reflect values that Eve held, or ways that she lived and interacted with people.”
CCHS senior Wyatt Meyer was announced as this year’s CCHS recipient at Senior Honors Night on May 19. Meyer has spent four years in the ODYSSEY Media Group and served as the Editor-in-Chief as a senior. He also played as a goalkeeper was the captain of the CCHS boys varsity soccer team for the past two years.
CCHS boys varsity soccer coach Chris Aiken has worked with Meyer throughout his four years at CCHS and has seen him grow as a leader both on and off the field, from maintaining the soccer team’s morale to writing stories that look into the Athens community.
“(Meyer) wants to win so bad that he knows what it takes, and he’s willing to do anything to help the team get to that point. Even before (being the captain), he had a great attitude and was a great leader, but these past two years, he’s been the guiding force that’s led us to a lot of success,” Aiken said. “(I’m) gonna miss (interacting) with him as a person.”
““What (the award) tries to recognize is solid citizenship and the values of being a Clarke Central student and a good person overall. That kind of award means more to me than who can get the highest grade on a test or in a class,”
— Wyatt Meyer,
2025 ECHSA recipient
Meyer was honored when he learned that he had won the ECHSA and appreciated the award’s focus on character rather than academic success.
“What (the award) tries to recognize is solid citizenship and the values of being a Clarke Central student and a good person overall. That kind of award means more to me than who can get the highest grade on a test or in a class,” Meyer said. “In that sense, being recognized for doing the right things and being a solid citizen means a lot to me.”
Additionally, winning the award will serve as a motivator for Meyer to continue to uphold Carson’s legacy at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he will either major in English or history.
“I hope to continue to embody (Carson’s) values and that spirit even 1,500 miles away. There’s almost no place where it is the wrong thing to do to be a good person,” Meyer said. “It’s important to be yourself in any kind of context, so whether I was going to Harvard, Athens (Technical College) or working, I would still try and strive for a lot of the same values and behaviors that make up who I am.”
