BIG CREEK — A new scholarship honoring a former teacher is being offered to former Big Creek Elementary School students who are headed off to college or career training.

Big Creek Elementary tragically lost one of their teachers on March 15. Terri Lynn Moore was only 44 years old when she passed away after car accident on Ky. 15 near the Breathitt County line. Moore had been a teacher at Perry County schools for 23 years.

According to her former students and co-workers, she was a special person who will be greatly missed. Big Creek Principal Jeff Castle said that she will not soon be forgotten by those whose lives she touched.

“Anybody that had known her, they are not going to forget her,” said Castle.

Following the loss of the well-loved teacher, several people looked for ways to memorialize her, and even naming the new school being built on Highway 80 was suggested.

Now, two people whose lives she touched have found a way to keep her memory alive and help students at the same time. In honor of her life long achievements with her students, the parents of two of her former students, John and Becky Campbell, have started a scholarship fund in her name. Principal Castle said that it was just one way to help honor her as a teacher and as an inspiring educator.

The scholarship will go to students that graduated from Big Creek Elementary to help them continue their education.

“We had somebody locally donate, it is a $500 scholarship for the next eight years that goes to a graduate of Big Creek School who has attended at least two years,” said Castle. The student that is awarded the scholarship has to have plans to further their education either through job training or college.

They are hoping to start the scholarship this year and are looking for students to apply. Students will apply at Perry Central High School, and then the winners will be chosen randomly, according to Castle.

The scholarship will go to one student each year in a lump sum. This money can then be used to help pay for classes, books, or other educational fees.

“He didn’t want her forgotten, and that was one of the reasons for doing it,” said Castle about the scholarship’s donor. “Both of his kids had had her as a teacher, and he just thought that it would be a way of paying her back in some way.”