The Eva M. Covington Endowed Scholarship has been established at Northwest Mississippi Community College to benefit students from Tallahatchie and Yalobusha counties.
Covington is a Tallahatchie County native with a heart for helping others.
A 43-year employee and passionate advocate for the Head Start center in Charleston, the facility was renamed the Eva Covington Head Start Center in her honor in 2004. She retired from the center in 2012.
Born in Grenada, Covington grew up in the Charleston/Tillatoba area, and graduated from Allen Carver High School.
After high school, she earned her GED through Coahoma Community College in Clarksdale, and married Calvin Covington soon after. The couple raised seven children together, and are grandparents and great-grandparents to 13 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Mr. Covington passed away in 2015 after 57 years of marriage to his wife.
Covington began her career with the Delta Hill Educational Association, later taken over by ICS Head Start, in 1969 as a cook. She soon transitioned to the position of rotating aide before being promoted to aide when ICS Head Start took up operations. By 1983, she was promoted to teacher, and later became the organization’s assistant director. In addition to her regular duties on the job, she was also instrumental in acquiring a bus for the program several years before she retired.
When she was informed of the intention to name the facility for her, she was stunned.
“It was unbelievable,” Covington said. “It was a great honor to me.”
Not only has she poured years of passion and hard work into Charleston’s Head Start center, Covington has also put in significant time and effort over the years in raising money for cancer research through the American Cancer Society’s annual Rally for a Cure event.
She is also an active member of the Blue Cane Community Center, and has received the Living Legend Award from Charleston’s CARE (Charleston Arts and Revitalization Effort) organization. Additionally, she is known for her willingness to personally assist local families in need, though she is quick to point out that she is not the only one.
“I like the people in Tallahatchie County because we really help one another when there’s a need,” she said. “Everybody knows everybody, and it makes a big difference.”
The scholarship was endowed by Mississippi Rep. Tommy Reynolds and his wife Liz. The Reynolds’, a fellow Tallahatchie County couple, have supported Head Start, as well as the American Cancer Society, through Covington’s involvement. Mr. Reynolds recently called Covington to tell her about the new scholarship in her name.
“It brought tears to my eyes,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Reynolds said the decision was easy.
“She’s done so much for educational needs with Head Start,” he said. “I think she’s a wonderful example for others. She has always been active in her community, and she’s done so much good.”
In her retirement, Covington reports that her favorite hobbies are going to Walmart and working in her yard.
She has been a dedicated member of Little Hubbard Baptist Church in Charleston for 62 years, serving on numerous committees in that time, leading the church’s choir and serving as president of the Missionary Society, chairman of the fellowship hall, and as a youth and adult Sunday school teacher.
The Eva M. Covington Endowed Scholarship will be awarded to a student from Tallahatchie County. If there are no eligible students from Tallahatchie County, the scholarship will go to a student from Yalobusha County. Each recipient must maintain a 2.0 GPA while enrolled at Northwest.
For more information about scholarships or to contribute to the Covington endowment, contact the foundation office at 662-560-1103.
