Norris, Choi, Collins named 2019 Finley Award winners for strong character

Hoover school officials today and on Tuesday announced the 2019 winners of the Finley Award for outstanding character for the Hoover school district.

Each year, a committee made up of school and community members chooses one senior from each of Hoover’s two high schools and one employee of Hoover City Schools to receive the Finley Award.

This year’s winners are Paul Norris of Hoover High School, Lauren Choi of Spain Park High School and Trace Crossings Elementary School Principal Quincy Collins.

PAUL NORRIS

Norris is a 20-year-old who came to the United States in 2012 when he and his brother were adopted from Uganda by Randy and Susan Norris. He was not literate in English nor his native tongue but has made great strides in improving his literacy, said Carl Floyd, an English as a Second Language teacher who has worked with Norris at Brock’s Gap Intermediate School, Bumpus Middle School and now Hoover High.

“Not once has he given up,” Floyd said in a letter recommending Norris for the Finley Award.

Last year, Norris was selected to be part of the Academy of Craft Training in Birmingham, where he goes daily to learn building construction skills.

Steven Denney, Norris’ building construction instructor for the past two years, said Norris is the perfect candidate for the Finley Award.

“Paul displays dependability, humility, a very strong work ethic, honesty, leadership and encouraging others,” Denney wrote in a nomination letter. “The best quality he displays is perseverance. No matter the circumstances, Paul does not change who he is as a person.”

Finding a teenager with Norris’ work ethic is hard to do, Denney said. Norris works very hard with both his book work and hands-on training, he said. Norris has completed multiple internships and always receives great reviews from contractors, he said.

“He enjoys finding a way to tell people his story of growing up in Uganda,” Denney said. “I have watched Paul use his story to influence other students, teachers and even state government officials to have more of an appreciation for many of the things Americans take for granted. Paul has a natural ability to captivate an audience when he speaks, and I really attribute that to his character.”

Jason Kervin, a biology teacher at Hoover High and the offensive coordinator for the Hoover High football team, said he has never had a student impact his life on a personal level more than Norris.

When Norris was in the ninth grade, Kervin asked Norris’ class to name factors that could influence someone’s academic success. Several students gave good answers, but the answer Norris gave changed his life. Norris simply replied “to be loved.”

“The moment he said that, I knew he had a different outlook on life than most people did,” Kervin said. “It took me a few minutes and even days of reflection to embrace the gravity of what Paul had said. Because of Paul’s background and life experiences, he understands the importance of being loved. He has experienced something that many of us take for granted every day, but is yet one of the most important things in life, the significance of being loved. … I’ve never been more moved or impacted by any moment in my life.”

Norris also is the ultimate encourager, Kervin said. He is constantly encouraging other students, and even adults.

“He always comes and sees me on Fridays — game day, and he tells me that he knows we are going to win because he believes in me,” Kervin said. “What kind of teenager speaks to adults like that? I’ve been teaching for 14 years and have a lot of meaningful relationships with former students. But never have I had a student come put his arms around me before a game and tell me that our team will win because he believes in me. He is that remarkable.”

Norris loves other people and makes sure they know that he loves them, Kervin said.

“He is unequivocally one of the best human beings I have ever had the pleasure to be around,” Kervin said. “Hoover High School will never be as bright once he graduates and his smile is no longer roaming our halls.”

LAUREN CHOI

Choi is known at Spain Park as one of those students who seems like she is good at everything, college counselor Tracy Prater said.

She is unquestionably capable in all academic disciplines and has challenged herself with the most rigorous curriculum that Spain Park has to offer, yet she manages to maintain a humble and quiet demeanor that masks some of her amazing abilities, he said in a recommendation letter.

Sarah Love, an Advanced Placement language and composition teacher, said Choi routinely teaches her instructors and is a perfect gem among ambling teenagers. Choi is one of the top three most memorable upper-level students she has taught in 24 years and is the single-most deserving student she can recall for the Finley Award.

“Lauren is the ideal student — always prepared, honest with herself and others, dedicated and determined, a good listener, a beautiful person inside and out, the perfectly humble leader whose intelligence knows no limits but eagerly awaits new information to savor,” Love wrote in a recommendation letter.

Choi is an artist by nature, an avid finisher of the daily New York Times crossword puzzle and a curious seeker of learning during her free time, Love said. She finds learning fun, and her love of the world surrounding her is limitless, Love said.

“Lauren’s gentle, kind spirit leads her to walk faithfully with the perfect balance of pride and humility,” Love wrote. “Her willingness to help her peers and celebrate their accomplishments comes easily for Lauren, and her gentle chuckle and glistening eyes show her lovely sense of humor.”

Choi knows that words are important and treats each person she meets with grace and respect, Love said. And she does it all with humility.

Love recalled when Choi whispered to her that she made a 36 — the highest possible score — on the ACT college entrance exam and asked that Love not tell anyone because she didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention to herself.

Julee Rodgers, the yearbook sponsor at Spain Park, said Choi has been on the yearbook staff for three years and spent the past two as editor of the yearbook. She has watched Choi work one-on-one with staff members to train them and devotes extra time to help other staff members solve problems with their individual page assignments.

“Her quiet leadership has earned her the respect of her fellow staff members,” Rodgers wrote. “When Lauren addresses the group, everyone stops to listen because they know that she has a vision for the book that they want to help create.”

Choi also has shown great initiative at Spain Park, faculty members said. She wanted to start a Computer Science Club, so she met with the principal to propose it and found a faculty sponsor to make it happen. She proposed, organized and assisted with the initial World Heritage Week at Spain Park and is an essential member of the robotics and math teams, Rodgers said.

Choi also founed the TEAMS (Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics and Science) competition at the school.

“She has a great deal of talent academically, but the thing that makes her a fantastic human being is her ability to motivate and serve others,” computer science teacher Julia Bartle wrote in a recommendation letter. “Since starting the (computer science) club, Lauren has continued to design and implement each and every activity conducted with an incredible amount of humbleness and fortitude. She never asks for help, but allows others to contribute when they are motivated to.”

At first, Choi may seem a bit reserved, but she is observing and taking note of details about her surroundings and always analyzing the situation, Bartle said.

“She has the exceptional ability to listen and understand perspectives and uses that skill to inspire respect and to motivate others to greatness,” Bartle said.

QUINCY COLLINS

Collins is in his third year as principal at Trace Crossings Elementary. Before that, he served three years as an assistant principal at Bumpus School.

Tamala Maddox, the principal at Bumpus, said that since Collins came to Hoover City Schools, he has always sought to do everything he can to make sure that his colleagues, parents and students feel valued and respected.

He gets an amazing amount of work done in a 24-hour period, and he accomplishes that while maintaining a healthy relationship with his wife and four children, she said.

He is a man of high principles and has high expectations for each of his children, teaching them the importance of being in the world, but not of the world, Maddox said.

Collins is “a consummate professional, caring friend and administrator, loving father and husband,” Maddox said. “He proudly speaks of his faith, but he definitely publicly walks it. He exemplifies Christlike character each day. I have never seen him angry, belittle another, talk about another or refuse to help another. He embodies the character that we speak of when we speak of Bob Finley. Although Coach Finley is no longer here, if you want to spend time with someone who lives his life as Coach Finley did, stop by and meet Mr. Quincy Collins.”

Staff members at Trace Crossings described Collins as a servant leader and said he has more on his plate than most people can handle but he never fails to go above and beyond the call of duty when there is a need at the school.

He leads by example, demonstrates a strong work ethic and is the epitome of responsible, life-changing leadership, staff members said.

Collins’ wife, April, said she knew from the time she first met her husband that he was a good guy, but over the years, he has shown her what a great guy is.

“He is a selfless leader. He is a transformational leader,” April Collins said. “He’s not going to tell you to do anything that he wouldn’t do.”

His wife recalled a time when a school employee who was the caretaker for her family had an emergency and Collins knew how much of a burden that emergency was going to be for her.

After a long Friday and long week and after being with his daughter at the softball field til 8 p.m., he drove his family 40 minutes to go grocery shopping for that woman and her family. He truly loves and cares for other people, not just collectively, but individually, his wife said.

Collins said he was truly humbled, overwhelmed, surprised and thankful to receive the Finley Award. He never knew Finley, a former coach at Berry High School before it became Hoover High School, but from everything he has heard, Finley was an amazing man.

“To be able to have an award of this magnitude bestowed to me at this time is a blessing,” he said.

He thanked the student and staff at Trace Crossings for being amazing and said the award would not have been possible without all of them working together as a team to make the school succeed.

He also thanked the administrators and school board who hired him for taking a chance on a “young country boy from Perry County, Alabama” and allowing him to work in a district like Hoover.

Collins said the faculty at Trace Crossings may not be able to proclaim their faith to students and lead in prayer in the cafeteria, but he encouraged them to continue to let their lights shine because they never know when someone else needs to see that light.

Collins, Norris and Choi will be honored at a ceremony at the Finley Center at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex on March 21. They will receive the top three Finley Awards, but other students with outstanding character from each grade in each Hoover school also will be recognized that night.