JCPS Scholarship Recipient: Zoe Clemmons

Manual senior to start UofL on path to a nursing career

May 20, 2020 – Diagnosed at 18 months old with spinal muscular atrophy, Zoe Clemmons has endured health challenges all her life.  She’s undergone multiple surgeries over the years to lessen the impact of the disease, which causes her muscles to slowly degenerate.  Mobile with the use of a wheelchair, accessibility and transportation issues continue to be daily trials.

And while navigating those hazards, Zoe says she has faced another consistent challenge – discrimination over her disability, and people undermining her intellect or making assumptions that she can’t do something.

The duPont Manual senior has proved them wrong. Zoe, one of four Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) students to receive a scholarship from the JCPS Employee-Sponsored Student Scholarship Fund, will start at the University of Louisville as a pre-nursing major in the fall. 

JCPS Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio surprised her today with news of the scholarship award, presenting her with a ceremonial check for $24,800.

“I’m so happy,” she said after the presentation.  “I’ve always wanted to live on campus when I went to college, and this will allow me to do that.”

When Zoe was 9 years old, her family was told that her left lung was collapsing due to her scoliosis and progression of the muscular disease, and she would need surgery as soon as possible to correct the curvature in her spine. She remembered nights struggling to breathe, working twice as hard to take a simple breath. “At first, I felt terrified, but soon I thought of it as a new normal,” she recalled. 

A series of growth replacement rods were placed in her back, which were fused when she was 12 years old, achieving a significant benefit: “I could breathe again.”

But that wasn’t the only meaningful outcome.

“I believe the most monumental realization was understanding what I want to do with the remainder of my life,” she said.

Being in and out of hospitals and doctors’ offices throughout her childhood biased her to medicine, specifically nursing, she said.  “The nurses made my time in the hospital unforgettable each time I’d stay. They made life-altering events more comfortable to endure and through pain and confusion, I was able to smile.”

She hopes to offer similar comfort and a new perspective to patients in addition to caring for their healthcare needs.

At Manual, Zoe has maintained a spot on the honor roll all four years while taking rigorous courses including Honors, Advanced, AP and dual credit classes.  She’s a member of the Honor Society Foundation and has been involved in extracurricular activities including Best Buddies and the Latin American Hispanic Student Organization. Zoe also volunteers with the Kentucky Humane Society, where she helps acclimate animals to adaptive equipment like wheelchairs, walkers and canes.

Raised by a single-parent, money was tight and her educational opportunities were limited.  She said she is ‘incredibly grateful’ to Manual for the quality education she’s received, and as a first-generation college student, she knows she has a lot of people counting on her to succeed.

“I know from personal experience how depleting the thoughts of diagnoses and surgeries can be,” she said, “but having a supportive healthcare staff to assure safety and comfortability partially diminishes the trepidation.”