A Legacy of Influence: Memorial Scholarship Connects Students with Inspiration

Most people can look back on their time in school and remember at least one teacher who impacted their lives. Perhaps it was a lesson that stuck with them or the style of teaching, but often it's the way a teacher went the extra mile outside of the classroom that stays with students.

Kylie Roberts knew her eighth-grade biology teacher, Mrs. Oldaker, had impacted her when she was in middle school, but she never expected to be directly impacted by her legacy in college.

Ara Michalle Arthur Oldaker was a native of Huntington and graduated from Marshall University in 1991. She went on to serve as an educator for the Chesapeake School District as well as Collins Career Technical Center, both in Chesapeake, Ohio.

In middle school, Roberts was considering a medical career, so she was in Oldaker's Bio-Med class, but it was their shared love of reading that bonded them.

"We both loved to read,"" Roberts said. "She would always tell us that we needed to read outside of school, and she was very big on literacy and the importance of literacy. But I specifically had a book that I had read, and I really loved it and I shared it with her. She was like, ‘Well, if you love it, let me borrow it. I'll read it and come talk to you about it.' And she did. I loved her for that. I thought it was so nice of her to truly show interest in something I was interested in, especially considering it was a book meant for eighth-graders.""

Sadly, Oldaker died in 2022 at the age of 54 after battling breast cancer. An active volunteer in her community, she and her husband, Charles, had already discussed ways they could further give back, so when she passed, Charles Oldaker knew the best way to honor his wife was by endowing a scholarship in her name.

"As an educator, there's not only the responsibility that comes with the profession, but the opportunity to have an impact on kids,"" Charles Oldaker said, speaking from Michalle's perspective. "Kids really need somebody who's got a big, compassionate heart as much as somebody who's able to give them reading, writing and arithmetic. They need somebody who cares about them.""

When Roberts enrolled at Marshall, she filled out the scholarship application and put it out of her mind, not expecting much. But to her surprise, she was selected as the first recipient of the Michalle Arthur Oldaker Memorial Scholarship.