Allie Spillyards didn’t appear at the Wylie ISD board meet­ing on April 19 when attendees heard her discuss the benefits of the district’s Birmingham Scholars program.

But when she spoke in a vid­eo played during the meeting, many attendees may have rec­ognized her through her work in local television journalism.

Spillyards, a general assign­ment reporter for KXAS Tele­vision-Channel 5, was born and raised in Wylie and is a 2008 graduate of Wylie High School and a Birmingham Scholars recipient. Attendees saw a vid­eo at the meeting that featured Spillyards’ views about the Bir­mingham Scholars.

“It was a really big deal and it was something I had worked for for four years,” she said later in an interview with the News. “I went through Wylie ISD from kindergarten on, and was very aware of the award and the scholarship. There’s a lot of prestige, and in my class at least, a lot of competition tied to it. We were still a one-high school town; I think Wylie East had been opened as a freshman center at that point.”

But WHS was the only high school graduating class, and se­niors knew for all of their last year of school who was ahead and behind them in class rank.

“A lot of us who won the scholarship were in the same classes and it was kind of a fun competition and some­thing I worked very hard for,” Spillyards said. “I knew that any scholarship would be very beneficial going on (after high school) and I was over the moon when I won.”

For the full story, see the May 19 issue or subscribe online.

By Don Munsch • [email protected]