Hoyt Allen and Edna Mae Covalt

Hoyt Allen Covalt better known by his nickname "Kaiser," grew up in rural Daviess County and graduated from Washington High School in 1946. After graduation, he learned of a government program that would pay tuition and books for him to attend college to become a teacher.

   He hitchhiked nearly every day of the next four years, the first two to Vincennes University in Vincennes and the next two years to Oakland City University in Oakland City, where he recieved his teaching degree. He went on to earn his master of science degree in elementary education and his administrator license at Indiana State University at Terre Haute.

   Covalt taught for thirty years in public schools in Jefferson, Loogootee, Southside, Dyer, and Franklin and was a substitute teacher for two years before retiring in1978, when he became a volunteer at Rise Learning Center, Calvary Lutheran School, and Clinton Young Elementary in Indianapolis.

   Covalt married Edna Mae, also a teacher, in 1962. Both are now retired and live in Indianapolis Southside.

   Though they no longer live in Daviess County, the Covalts have maintained their connection to the community and to the teaching profession they love. They give regularly to the college scholarship fund created by the Washington Community School Foundation through the Davies County Community Foundation.

   Not only do the Covalt's gifts help today's students through scholarships, but they also are a tribute to Mr. Covalt's parents, Hoyt Cheniah and Cecil Jane Allen Covalt, in whose names the gifts are made.