Abigail Koubek, a senior at The Villages Charter High School, was recently named one of 12 finalists for the prestigious Leaders for Life Fellowship. 

The Leaders for Life (L4L) fellowship was created by the Asofsky Family Foundation in partnership with Take Stock in Children, a nonprofit organization that provides mentors and college scholarships to financially at-risk students in Florida to help students graduate and successfully enter a career. 

Each year, Take Stock in Children’s top students from across Florida apply for the L4L fellowship program which involves a rigorous application process that requires essays on education and leadership, as well as letters of recommendation. 

The six students selected for the L4L Fellowship receive their tuition scholarship from Take Stock in Children, plus up to $10,000 per year for four years in additional scholarship funds, along with educational and networking opportunities. The L4L Fellows will be announced in the spring 2021.

Koubek is involved in numerous activities at school, including National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society, basketball, swimming, volleyball, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and Rho Kappa. Koubek carries a 4.49 GPA and has completed more than 230 community service hours. Her career goal is to become a speech-language pathologist.

Koubek and the other L4L finalists each received a MacBook Pro.

“We are so proud of Abby to have advanced as a finalist in the Leaders for Life Fellowship program. Her dedication to academic success and to her community makes her an exceptional candidate,” said Carman Cullen, Executive Director of the Education Foundation of Lake County which oversees Take Stock in Children of Lake and Sumter County. “Abby’s accomplishment is also another feather in our cap as she is the fifth student from Lake and Sumter counties to be named a finalist. In fact, our last three finalists were awarded the fellowship.”

The Asofsky Family Foundation started the L4L Fellowship because they believe that every child has the right to develop to their fullest potential regardless of socio-economic or family circumstances; and education is one of the most effective tools to create opportunities and break the cycle of poverty.