Photo courtesy of Annabeth Miller Mary Ruth Boone, choir director for Dexter High School, presents this year's Tommy Blankenship Memorial Choir Award to Elisa Hester (left) and Jansen Williams.

Every so often, a teacher has the pleasure of instructing a student who serves not only as an inspiration to the teacher, but to his or her fellow students as well. For Mary Ruth Boone, the longtime director of Dexter's music program, Tommy Blankenship was that very special kind of student; the kind that a teacher dreams of having. When his life was tragically lost eight years ago, a light was extinguished that had illuminated countless lives that crossed his path during his brief 20 years.

"Tommy was the kind of student who came into class every day with a smile on his face just because he was glad to be there and he LOVED to sing!" says Boone today. "He was the student that I could always pull up in front of the class and use to help teach the choreography to the rest of the students. It didn't matter to Tommy that I stepped on his toes!"

When Tommy Blankenship's life was taken so young, Boone established an annual award to be presented to a graduating senior at the conclusion of each year's Pop Concert. The award goes to a student who exudes those qualities that Boone witnessed in Blankenship.

This year, the Tommy Blankenship award was presented dually, to Jansen Williams and to Elisa Hester, both whom Boone felt adequately portray the spirit of the award's namesake.

"Both of these girls work with heart and with the same giving spirit that Tommy always did," Boone explains, "without complaint and certainly with the compassion that was Tommy's and I think that he would be proud that these two girls are sharing his award this year."

"Tommy was a sensitive young man. If he saw a classmate or a teacher who looked like they needed a kind word or a hug, he's administer and do so without any reservation. Everyone loved Tommy and were drawn to him," she added.

"Quite simply, he brought out the best in us all and the award in his name exemplifies a person whose character inspires those same traits, so that his spirit lives on, both on the stage of DHS and in the halls of the high school."

Elisa Hester, the daughter of Terry and Ranaan Hester, plans to attend Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas to study music and Jansen Williams, the daughter of Gary and Kim Williams, plans to major in music therapy at Maryville College in St. Louis.

"I don't believe I could have selected two more appropriate winners for this award this year," Boone says. "Both Jansen and Elisa are wherever I need them to be, always practicing to be their best and always willing to assist another student in any way they can. They do it willingly and with a smile on their face, and that's what this award is all about."

There is a picture on the desk of Mary Ruth Boone. It is one that she looks at each day and when incoming freshmen ask who that handsome boy is dancing with a bit younger version of Boone, she is quick to tell the story of Tommy Blankenship, the son of Kaye Blankenship and the late Rick Blankenship, and through the telling, she says, he lives on.