Oklahoma teen with Gordon County ties part of record-setting class of National Merit Scholars
Heaven Monet, a recent graduate of Jenks High School in Jenks, Okla. is one of 17 alumni who are National Merit Scholars. School officials report this is the most students per school in the state’s history. The 2016 graduating class, which Monet is a member of, had over 800 students. Jenks is a suburb of Tulsa.
The National Merit Scholarship is an academic scholarship competition for recognition and university scholarships. Annually, about 15,000 students across America receive these honors.
Monet is the daughter of Jolleen Monet, of Jenks, Okla. and granddaughter of Calhoun native Zane Thomas and Beverley Manasco, who now lives in Cherokee County, Okla., and great- granddaughter of Linda P. Fletcher, of Calhoun.
“It was good news hearing this,” Thomas said. “Heaven’s always been a smart child even when she was little.”
Manasco says her granddaughter was doing algebra problems when she was still in primary school. And for her, it came at a time when Manasco needed some good news. Disabled from a 2004 fall, Manasco has had five vertebrae fusion surgeries as well as other orthopedic surgeries, including total knee replacement since then. She is currently on oxygen at all times and mostly homebound because of her injuries, having to use a wheelchair when she is out.
Being a National Merit Scholar has helped out the family big time because Monet has received a full scholarship to the University of Oklahoma, where she started classes on Aug. 22 and plans to study biology and one day be a medical doctor. She says she thought of going into the cardiovascular field but also is considering orthopedics as her specialty.
She’s in the right family. Her mother, aunt and cousin are all hospital nurses and Fletcher was a dental hygienist for more than 40 years in and around the Calhoun area. Manasco also has experience as a caregiver and is one of the founding board members of NeoHealth, a rural health clinic in Cherokee County.
Monet will be recognized, along with other National Merit Scholars at the university, before the first home game of the football season on Sept. 10.