28 Feb 2022 A Thunderbird of many talents
By Becky Bell
There isn’t much Sofia Couvertier, 10, cannot do if she sets her mind to it.
She can dribble a basketball, build a cellphone holder out of Legos, or answer a question on her Quiz Bowl team. She attends Guy Perkins Elementary School in Guy, about 25 minutes north of Conway.
As a fourth-grader, Sofia is the kind of student who gets noticed by her teachers and even her principal.
“Sofia is a great example of what we expect our Thunderbirds to be,” said Tammy Murry elementary principal. “She is respectful, responsible, quick to help others, and she always works hard. She is a joy to have at school.”
Because COVID-19 canceled the school’s peewee basketball season last year, this is the first year Sofia played with other fourth- and fifth-grade girls. Her father, Jonathan Couvertier, and grandfather, Robert Stewart, coached the team. Jonathan came to the U.S. from Puerto Rico when he was 15. Later, he gained a scholarship from Central Baptist College and that’s where he met Sofia’s mother, Kimberly Couvertier. They have four children, Sofia, Kruz, 7, Jagger, 6, and Zoe, 4.
Sofia gets tickled when she tells the names of the family’s cats — Hocus and Pocus. She said she’s never seen the Halloween classic “Hocus Pocus,” but her older cousin named them.
Kimberly said that Sofia is interested in STEM curriculum, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Educators are always glad for female interest as there are often more male students in these programs.
“STEM is something the superintendent has called me about, and I’ve told him she loves to build a lot of Legos and we have discussed how important that is,” she said. “There are not a lot of kids on the engineering side, and he would like us to explore that more.”
National Honor Society, Beta Club, and the National Young Scholars Program are other groups that keep this fourth-grader busy.
“Beta Club is where we help our community with projects, different things like that,” Sofia said. “We pick up trash and help in other ways. It’s a leadership program and it’s by invitation.”
Educator Petrina Baker wrote a letter recommending Sofia to the National Young Scholars Program. The program includes a chance to travel to Houston for a workshop and is open to only highly motivated students who show exceptional maturity, scholastic merit, and leadership potential.
Kimberly is not sure if Sofia is going to be able to spend the night for the event though, after all she’s only 10.
But being 10 in her household gives her the privilege of staying up later than her siblings so she can read books, which is one of her favorite hobbies. The house rule is that the lights go off at 9 p.m. and the books do too.
“A lot of times I stay up a little later reading my books until 10:30,” she said, giggling. “I probably shouldn’t say this.”
Her mother does not scold her and instead talks about how proud she is of her girl.
“Sofia has always been a good leader naturally, a good responsible kid just naturally. I am proud of Sofia. She’s got a lot of great qualities and she is a godsend.”
