A Bogue Chitto senior has been awarded the highest honor given by the Mississippi High School Activities Association.

Kayci Beth Wallace was awarded the Lindy Callahan Scholarship Award recently.

Only 16 seniors in the state receive the scholarship annually. Honorees are chosen for their academic accomplishments as well as participation in athletics and extracurricular activities. Each winner receives a $1,500 scholarship. The award was launched in 1996 to honor long-time coach and athletic director Lindy Callahan of Gulfport, an eight-time Hall of Fame inductee.

“I feel honored to be selected as a recipient of the MHSAA Lindy Callahan Scholar-Athlete Scholarship,” Wallace said. “I am thankful for my teachers, coaches, family and teammates who have supported and encouraged me to achieve my best in academics and athletics. I am grateful for the scholarship that will assist in furthering my education and I will forever cherish representing this esteemed Lindy Callahan award.”

“There has been only one other student at Bogue Chitto that has received this award,” said Bogue Chitto Attendance Center principal Scott Merrell. “It was her brother, Garrett, in 2011.”

Both of Wallace’s parents work for the Lincoln County School District — mother Dana Wallace is the gifted teacher at BCAC and father Kenneth Wallace is the IT director for the district.

“Kayci Beth is a highly intelligent student who has a passion for success,” Merrell said. “She is the epitome of the type of student that educators wish for in all the students they either coach or teach.”

Some of Wallace’s accomplishments are: projected valedictorian or salutatorian of her graduating class; multi-year Student Council officer; Hall of Fame ACT score; Mississippi Scholar; student of the month every year of her education; and mentor for disadvantaged youth in Bogue Chitto’s “Big Cat, Little Cat” program. She has also been a multi-year cheerleader and captain, and a multi-year starter in basketball, soccer and both fast pitch and slow pitch softball, winning soccer MVP as a mid-fielder and a state championship in slow pitch softball.

Wallace will attend Southwest Mississippi Community College, where she will play softball and major in pre-dental biology.

“I plan to transfer to Mississippi State University to complete my undergraduate study in biological sciences. I hope to attend the University of Mississippi Medical Center to complete my education and pursue a career in dentistry,” she said.