Pictured, from left, are Judy Phillips, Kala Williams, and Dr. Deb Baber.

VALDOSTA — Kala Williams, of Norman Park, has earned the 2019 Phillips-Baber Share the Wealth Scholarship.

The Phillips-Baber Share the Wealth Scholarship is presented each year to an undergraduate Valdosta State University student pursuing a degree in health and physical education.

Williams is the first nontraditional student and the first African American female to ever win the Phillips-Baber Share the Wealth Scholarship. She is an active member of the Georgia Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance and Kappa Delta Pi: International Honor Society in Education.

Williams has served her community as a Special Olympics volunteer. She has roughly seven years of coaching experience, as head coach of the Colquitt County Special Olympics softball team and as head coach of the Turner Job Corps Center softball team, which she led to a national championship. She has also worked with youth at the Moultrie YMCA, serving as a camp counselor during the summer.

Williams anticipates graduating from VSU with a Bachelor of Science in Education in health and physical education in May 2020. She will then be able to pursue a career working with students in prekindergarten through 12th grade and share her expertise in the areas of health and physical education, student development, fitness, individual and team activities, discipline-related technologies, safety, and more.

“My philosophy as a teacher would be to help my students become more active and enjoy their lives to their fullest physical ability,” she shared.

“I want my students to understand we only have one body, and it is important for us to take care of it,” she added.

The Phillips-Baber Share the Wealth Scholarship was established in 2007 to honor two long-time Share the Wealth Physical Education Conference directors, Judy Phillips and Dr. Deb Baber. This annual conference has been recognized by the National Association of Sport and Physical Education as the premier hands-on physical education conference in the United States and annually attracts attendees from all across the country and around the world.