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Amaiya Kavachery, a senior at Lehigh Career and Technical Institute, has a passion for world languages and making students feel seen.
As the winner of a four-year, full-tuition scholarship to Cedar Crest College, Kavachery, 18, will study secondary education and English with the hopes of one day teaching English language learners.
“She is very inquisitive, she is brave, not afraid to challenge traditional ideations, and I think she’ll be a great match for Cedar Crest,” Kathy Khanuja, LCTI education instructor, said of Kavachery.
Cedar Crest, an Allentown liberal arts college primarily for women, has held its annual scholarship competition for 15 years, but this year’s format was new: Instead of a standardized test, students interviewed in front of a committee. Also new this year, only local teens were considered for the award.
Kavachery beat out 33 other scholarship applicants from high schools across the Lehigh Valley. More than a dozen applicants will also be awarded partial tuition scholarships. Cedar Crest’s 2024-25 tuition is $45,664.
Cedar Crest President Elizabeth Meade, college staff and mascot Franki the Falcon, surprised Kavachery with her scholarship win in a Tuesday visit to LCTI.
“I was ecstatic. I was so excited,” said Kavachery, whose home school district is Parkland.
Kavachery has been attending LCTI full time for two years after transferring from Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts, where she studied literary arts, like creative writing and poetry. She came to LCTI to participate in its teacher education program. This school year Kavachery is one of two students participating in LCTI’s Future Educators pilot program.
Through the new program, Kavachery receives instruction at LCTI and Lehigh Carbon Community College. She has taken multiple education classes through her dual enrollment with the community college, including courses on the foundations of education, careers in education and special education. Kavachery said she particularly enjoyed learning about student accommodations and learning modifications.
“I love learning about that, because for me, I’ll be very student-centered, I know,” she said.
“Sure, I’ll have to grade a lot of your essays, but I think it’s probably harder on the students,” Kavachery added. “They still have different learning styles, different abilities.”
Through the Future Educators program, Kavachery also gets to visit Lehigh Valley schools for observation days. Her favorite trip was to Newcomer Academy in Allentown, a school for students new to the United States who have experienced war or economic hardship that has interrupted their schooling.
Kavachery wants to be an ESL teacher, working with students learning English, because of her love for different languages.
She grew up with parents who speak languages other than English — Spanish and Tamil, an Indian language — and has enjoyed teaching herself Korean in her spare time. She’s learned the Korean alphabet by studying online. She was also very involved in the Spanish Department at Charter Arts.
“It’s just so unique to know [other languages],” she said. “There’s so many different people out there, and you can hear so many different stories, and I just like that idea.”
“Why not spend the day teaching about something that you love?” she added.
Amaiya Kavachery a student at Lehigh Career Technical Institute is awarded a full-tuition scholarship as the winner of Cedar Crest College’s annual Scholarship Competition. The reveal was held at the LCTI on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. (Monica Cabrera/The Morning Call)
Stephanie Walker, Cedar Crest Vice President of Enrollment holds a Cedar Crest Hoodie next to Amaiya Kavachery a student at Lehigh Career Technical Institute who is awarded a full-tuition scholarship as the winner of Cedar Crest College’s annual Scholarship Competition. The reveal was held at the LCTI on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. (Monica Cabrera/The Morning Call)
Stephanie Walker, Cedar Crest Vice President of Enrollment, left, congratulates Amaiya Kavachery a student at Lehigh Career Technical Institute who is awarded a full-tuition scholarship as the winner of Cedar Crest College’s annual Scholarship Competition. The reveal was held at the LCTI on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. (Monica Cabrera/The Morning Call)
Amaiya Kavachery a student at Lehigh Career Technical Institute is awarded a full-tuition scholarship as the winner of Cedar Crest College’s annual Scholarship Competition. The reveal was held at the LCTI on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. (Monica Cabrera/The Morning Call)
Amaiya Kavachery a student at Lehigh Career Technical Institute is awarded a full-tuition scholarship as the winner of Cedar Crest College’s annual Scholarship Competition. The reveal was held at the LCTI on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. (Monica Cabrera/The Morning Call)
Amaiya Kavachery a student at Lehigh Career Technical Institute is awarded a full-tuition scholarship as the winner of Cedar Crest College’s annual Scholarship Competition. The reveal was held at the LCTI on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. (Monica Cabrera/The Morning Call)
Amaiya Kavachery a student at Lehigh Career Technical Institute is awarded a full-tuition scholarship as the winner of Cedar Crest College’s annual Scholarship Competition. The reveal was held at the LCTI on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. (Monica Cabrera/The Morning Call)
Amaiya Kavachery a student at Lehigh Career Technical Institute is awarded a full-tuition scholarship as the winner of Cedar Crest College’s annual Scholarship Competition. The reveal was held at the LCTI on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. (Monica Cabrera/The Morning Call)
Amaiya Kavachery a student at Lehigh Career Technical Institute is awarded a full-tuition scholarship as the winner of Cedar Crest College’s annual Scholarship Competition. The reveal was held at the LCTI on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. (Monica Cabrera/The Morning Call)
Kavachery has also had positive experiences working with students throughout the region on recent observation days.
On a visit to a Whitehall elementary school, Kavachery worked with a student who did not want to do her assigned reading.
“She was just sitting there just looking at the wall, so I asked her what was wrong,” Kavachery said. “I started to get her to start reading on her own. Before I left the classroom, she ran up to me and gave me a hug. And it just felt really good to know I helped a student.”
Kavachery had a similar experience working with a special education student at Parkland High School. Together, they worked on a math worksheet about counting coins.
“It was just really fun because after it all he gave me a high five. He’s like, ‘Wow, that feels good to get that page done,’” she said.
Kavachery will soon start shadowing a mentor teacher at Orefield Middle School two days each week to gain further exposure to the teaching career.
Katrina Borgerding, a school counselor who has worked with Kavachery for three years, said the teen is hardworking, determined and unafraid to take a stand for learners.
“She’s brave, she’s intelligent, she’s competent,” Borgerding said. “And I think she’s going to make a lot of positive changes in the world of education.”
Outside of school, Kavachery has had personal challenges. Due to family difficulties, she’s been living with an older sister. She works two part-time jobs to pay for her own groceries and save up for driving lessons.
When it came to affording college, Kavachery knew the financial burden would be something she took on alone. But now with her scholarship to Cedar Crest, some of Kavachery’s stress has dissipated. She’s looking forward to a fresh start and the opportunity to learn more about teaching.
“It just feels like a tremendous reward,” Kavachery said. “I always felt like I tried so hard … in school and felt like nobody really noticed it, and now it just feels like I’m heard. It feels really nice.”
Morning Call reporter Jenny Roberts can be reached at jroberts@mcall.com.
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