In 2011, the Promising Scholars Fund awarded 4 college scholarships to local teens Kevin W. Champagne, Austin L. DeChalus, Alaric J. Gee and Jenna L. Wilborne.
The Promising Scholars Fund was established by the New Haven chapter of the
Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, the oldest African American Greek letter social fraternity founded in 1904. The chapter is known as the Beta Tau Boulé and was inspired by Edward A. Bouchet, the first African American to earn a doctorate from an American University. Scholarships awarded by the Boulé are named after Bouchet, who received his PhD in physics from Yale in 1876.
Edward A. Bouchet college scholarships are available to assist academically talented African American graduates of selected Connecticut high schools; as part of the application process, applicants must demonstrate leadership role(s), community service and achievement in extracurricular activities.
At the award ceremony held on May 21, recipient Jenna Wilborne expressed appreciation for the scholarship, which will fill a gap in funding for her room and board at college. Jenna, a National Honor Society member and
track athlete at James Hillhouse High School, is also an accomplished flutist and piano player. After graduation, she will attend Trinity College in Hartford,
CT where she intends
to double major in Engineering and Math.
Like Jenna, recipient Kevin W. Champagne also
competes in track and is a champion hurdler. Kevin excels in math and science and is graduating from Bunnell High School in Stratford, CT. He
will attend the University of Connecticut in Storrs in the Fall and
intends to major in Engineering.
“The award is a real blessing that’s going to help me reach my goals,” said recipient Alaric "Justin" Gee, who is graduating from Hamden High School and will be able to attend his first choice school, New York University, in the Fall thanks to the scholarship.
Alaric received honorable mention earlier this year for his presentation in the Connecticut Junior Science and Humanities Symposium. He intends to major in Biology and plans to become a doctor. Alaric will be spending his summer interning again at a Yale University research lab working to identify a possible drug treatment for Lupus.
Austin L. DeChalus is a second year Edward Bouchet Scholarship recipient and graduate of Hopkins School. He currently attends Brown University in Providence, RI and volunteers for the student-led
Providence Science Outreach program at Brown.
Performs at Concerts to Improve Pain-management and Healing
One of eight students to receive this year's Milton Fisher scholarship for Innovation and Creativity, Jourdan Brandt Urbach has raised over $4 million by encouraging other young musicians like himself to perform fund-raising Concerts for Care around the country to help children affected by neurological diseases. His organization called Children Helping Children was conceived at the tender age of 9. Read more about Jourdan's extraordinary work in today's New Haven Independent.
The Milton Fisher Scholarship is administered by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. The application deadline for 2011 is April 18th; applications and a complete of set of guidelines are available at www.rbffoundation.org.
- Bequest helps Derby High School students pursue career in education
- Norma Botti’s fund distributes 10 Scholarships in 10 Years, and counting
- Students receive scholarship awards
In Ms. Botti’s class you had to earn the grade.
The beloved teacher of romance languages taught at Derby High School for 4 decades. And many of her former students – who still live or work in the Lower Naugatuck Valley – will tell you that she wasn’t shy about correcting you for mispronunciation.
Ms. Botti turned her passion for teaching into a wonderful legacy when she made a bequest that established a scholarship fund at The Foundation eleven years ago for Derby High School students.
The Botti Fund has helped 10 students realize their dream of teaching since its inception. It awarded $5,000 in ’08 – the most ever to this year’s recipient who will attend The University of Connecticut.
Like Norma Botti, you too can give educational opportunities to others. Contact Jamie Cohen at (203) 225-0880 at the Valley Community Foundation for more information on how to create a fund to support education.
Rosa Nieves didn’t go to Florida for Spring Break like so many other college seniors. Instead, she dug rows and put in an irrigation system for families in La Goyena, Nicaragua so that they will be able to grow food when the rain season comes.
Why Nicaragua? A fellow RA at college, who a delegate to the country and raising money for school supplies for its children, sparked Nieve’s interest. That interest turned into a trip to Central America, which was made possible through the Albert Schweitzer Institute at Quinnipiac University and New Haven Sister Cities, Inc., an affiliate of Sister Cities International that promotes an awareness of the cultures and customs of foreign cities.
“It’s hard to explain it,” says Nieves, who was one of the students featured in a documentary about the trip entitled The Road Less Traveled. “It’s just one of those things you have to experience. The best part about it was the opportunity to play with the kids. I experienced so much love and sadness at the same time because of the poverty.”
Nieves was awarded two consecutive scholarships from the Dr. Tammis Sholin Miller Scholarship Fund at The Foundation which subsidized her studies at Quinnipiac University. The fund was established in 1995 by the estate of Dr. Miller and memorial gifts of family and friends. Each award was presented to Nieves by Mrs. Miller, Dr. Miller’s widow.
“I remember the first time I received the scholarship,” recalls Nieves. “I sent Mrs. Miller a thank you letter and told her about school and she sent a response. I appreciate everything she did for me, not only in her gift of scholarship but her interest in knowing who I was as a student…she is very genuine…a very loving woman and her family is really cool too.”
Nieves graduated magna cum laude from Quinnipiac this May with a degree in Sociology and was bestowed four other honors: Outstanding Senior, the Morris Wosko award for exceptional achievement in the College of Liberal Arts, a listing in Who’s Who among students in American Universities & Colleges and a place on the Dean’s list. She also became the first woman in her family to graduate college – a distinction which has made her relatives, mom in particular, very proud.
Nieves says she will return to Nicaragua one day to visit her host family in Leon and the children she loved to play with. But for now, the plan is “definitely grad school.” After that, maybe the Peace Corps or teaching English in Nicaragua.
“I want to give something back to the community more than ever now. Not just locally but globally,” says Nieves.