Submitted by North Thurston Education Foundation
The North Thurston Education Foundation has awarded scholarships with a total value of $136,000 to 41 graduating seniors from North Thurston Public Schools.
“It was a challenging year for the graduating class of 2020 in many respects. Application procedures were changed based on school closures and students were required to submit their applications by mail,” said Cathy Callahan, Foundation Scholarship Chair. “Due to the high quality of the 52 applications the Foundation received, the selection process was difficult. After careful consideration, the scholarship committee was pleased to award scholarships to 41 students who will be attending community colleges and colleges and universities across the country.”
Scholarships awarded range from $2,000 to $10,000. Applications were evaluated on a number of factors including academic achievement, school and community activities, references, quality of the required essay and financial need.
The following graduating seniors received this year’s awards:
North Thurston High School: Thomas Arend, Lochla Glass, Samantha Harding, Nia Harris, Payton Huss, Hayden Kosmider, Daniella LeBlanc-Debruler, Jacob Olson, Carianna Plascencia, Kyle Shimabukuro, McKenzie Squires, Madison Vu and Emma Waldon
Timberline High School: Maria Jelaine Barretto, McKenzie Bowers, Arianna Bush, Elyanna Calle, Morgan Cromartie, Jada Daniels, Lauryn Daniels, Alexander Dimico, Riley Gonzalez, Madison Hamilton, An Ho, Jasmine Matchawate, Jordan Moldenhauer, Collin Moore, Mackenzie Phan, Isaac Quiocho, Michael Rogers, Ian Teodoro, Isaiah Utto-Galarneau, Dominique Wolf and Grace Zhang
River Ridge High School: Bridgette Byerly, Willa Eisel, Jacie Fabela, Eli Francom, Madison Mercado, Julian Ruatos and Samuel Taylor
Sixteen of the scholarships are named after individuals in the community and funded by bequests from or donations on behalf of the persons for whom they are named. The remaining scholarships were funded solely by the Foundation’s annual fund-raising and by an unrestricted grant from the Dawkins Charitable Trust.
ABOUT NORTH THURSTON EDUCATION FOUNDATION
Incorporated in 1989, the North Thurston Education Foundation is an independent, tax exempt non-profit volunteer organization that raises funds to eliminate financial barriers to student success among North Thurston students from low income families. In addition to the scholarship program the Foundation provides each district school with student assistance funds that can be used for student needs that can’t be met with public funds; provides financial help to the district’s more than one thousand homeless students; and makes grants to teachers for special classroom projects. More information about the Foundation is available at www.ntef.org.
