As part of its outreach to youth, Friends of the Blue Ridge Mountains has awarded scholarships to three accomplished high school graduates who have demonstrated a strong interest in environmental stewardship.
The awards have been given to Mia Makowski, Clarke County Highschool and Ella Stevenson and Madeline Gammache both from Loudoun Vally High School.
Mia Makowski of Clarke County High School with Friends board member Carole Napolitano.
Mia has distinguished herself in both science and the arts as evidenced by advanced coursework in biology, chemistry, and physics as well as her extensive involvement with band, including in the community; yearbook, where she has served as Editor-in-Chief; and visual arts projects, both at school and in the community. She has also taken on leadership roles in the National Honor Society and the Tri-M Music Honor Society. She is described as “focused,” “disciplined,” “insightful,” “kind,” and one who demonstrates a “balance of humility and conviction.” As a student at Virginia Tech, she will study fish conservation as a means to pursuing her career aspiration of working to preserve our natural environment.
Friends of the Blue Ridge Mountains board member Carole Napolitano awards the Jane Pratt and Jed Shilling scholarship to Ella Stevenson of Loudoun Valley High School.
Ella is a summa cum laude student with a very impressive resume that includes accomplishments in academics, athletics, a variety of types of community service, and leadership roles. She has availed herself of many opportunities, both within and beyond the classroom, to pursue her passions, develop her capabilities, and share her gifts in her school and local community. Of particular interest to Friends of the Blue Ridge Mountains are her efforts in the areas of ecology and sustainability . . . which includes serving as a junior member of the Purcellville Town Tree and Environment Sustainability Committee and volunteering with the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, the Izaak Walton League of America Salt Watch, Keep Loudoun Beautiful, and Sweet Run State Park where she is partnering with a park ranger in a planting program to restore an old orchard. Her goal is to combine a career in restoration ecology with community outreach – to pair, in her words, “good science . . . with good communication so that everyone can understand the vital dynamic between nature and humans.”
Friends of the Blue Ridge Mountains board member Carole Napolitano awards the Jane Pratt and Jed Shilling scholarship to Madeline Gammache of Loudoun Valley High School.
Madeline a magna cum laude student, began to develop a passion for nature at a very early age, guiding the earthworms that showed up on her driveway after a heavy rain back to a safe place; enjoying mountain camping and exploration adventures with her family; and reading one library book after another about phenomena in the natural world. She describes the hills of the Blue Ridge, in particular at Bears Den, as her “happy place” and considers that they have helped shape who she is. She has participated in numerous extracurricular activities, a few of which include Student Equity Ambassadors, Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society, the National Honor Society, and the Spanish Club for which she served as President for 3 years. She has also participated in a number of community volunteer efforts and, along with her neighborhood friends, regularly removes plastic from a nearby stream. Her career goal is to become an Earth and Environmental Sciences teacher where she hopes to merge her passion for science, her desire to share knowledge, and her drive to care for the planet in a way that motivates future generations to make positive change.
The beauty of the Blue Ridge is a defining backdrop for our lives in Northern Virginia. Our mountains are precious, but fragile, more threatened in our region than anywhere else along the range. The future of the Blue Ridge depends upon today’s high school generation taking on the role of stewards of the mountains. It is for this reason that the Friends of the Blue Ridge Mountains, dedicated to preserving, enhancing, and celebrating the Blue Ridge, reaches out to youth in the form of the Jane Pratt and Jed Shilling Blue Ridge Education Award.