The Davenport House Museum presents a scholarship annually to an outstanding high school student who demonstrates qualities that put the museum and its community in the best light. This year’s award has been presented to 2012 Savannah Christian Preparatory School graduate Carlie Ayn Williams, who was scheduled to receive it at the Davenport House’s annual garden party June 7.

The Davenport House endowment directors initiated the scholarship program in 2011.

Williams, the only child of Charles and Dr. Deborah Williams of Guyton, came to the Davenport House during summer 2010 for Junior Interpreter training. From the beginning, her mastery of the history discipline was clear. She was the summer’s DH Jeopardy champion. She enjoyed giving tours and was good at it.

In October 2010, she was hired as a staff docent and has given tours at the museum on Sundays ever since. In addition to her work as a staff docent, she continues to volunteer at the Davenport House.

For the past two years, she has been the museum’s photographer for Valentine’s Day weddings. She was also a volunteer photographer at the 2011 Savannah Garden Expo. She takes hundreds of photos for each event, selects the best and edits them as necessary before donating them to the museum.

She has been accepted to Georgia Southern University’s Honors Program, which she will begin in the fall. At Savannah Christian her grade point average was 3.7 and she was ranked fifth out of a class of 101. She was senior class secretary, National Honor Society secretary, National Beta Club secretary as well as a member of the French Honor Society. At the school’s awards program held May 1, she received the Advanced Placement European History Award, the Advanced Placement Environmental Science Award and the Presidential Award of Academic Excellence.

The Davenport House began the Junior Interpreter program in March 2003 to provide an educational and a service-oriented program for students in grades nine through 12. During summer 2003 the first group of JIs completed training and began giving tours of the museum house. In the fall of 2005 the Davenport House and Savannah Arts Academy began offering the JI program in the evening to sophomore American history students.

Since 2003 more than 140 young people have participated in the DH’s JI programs.

Located on Columbia Square at 324 East State St. in Savannah, the Isaiah Davenport House is open for tours daily, Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. with the last tour departing at 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. with the last tour departing at 4 p.m.