HEATHER NEWELL OF HENDRIX COLLEGE, a senior defender on the field hockey team who hails from Aurora, Colo., has been selected the SCAC Character & Community Female Student-Athlete-of-the-Week for the week ending October 10, 2010.

Newell has an extensive resume built through her volunteer work on and off the campus.

Newell is currently the president of the Menifee Tutoring Program, a volunteer opportunity to help tutor young students with reading, writing and math skills. She also leads the Hendrix College Women’s Bible Study, is an Explorations Peer Assistant, and serves on the Hendrix SAAC Board.

Newell most recently studied abroad and taught school in Ghana during the Spring of 2010.  She has also volunteered her time at The Gathering Place (Denver, Colo.) and Bethlehem House (Conway, Ark.), both homeless shelters. 

Newell has worked with Big Buddy, which mentors young children in Conway Public Schools, from Spring of 2008 to Fall of 2009. She spent her junior year Spring Break trip with Habitat for Humanity. She has also helped lead to mission trips with the Miller Center, one to Mississippi and New Orleans, and the other to Vietnam.

Her head coach, Ellie Karvoski, had this to say about Newell, “Heather is an exceptional person who consistently functions at the highest levels of integrity, maturity and independence. She is a natural leader on and off the field and has been the field hockey team captain for four years. She is an excellent role model in many areas, such as, communication skills, time management skills, discipline, and positive energy."

"What I also admire about Heather," continued Karvoski, "is that with all that she has accomplished and with all the things she continues to be a part of, her desire and passion to encourage others to meet their potential remains her priority, and is truly a gift.”