Editor's note: Quail Valley Garden Club awarded $4000 in scholarships this year. Scholarship Committee headed by Suzy Walters with committee members Cindy Calender and Anne McBride made the scholarship process more in line with how both students and faculty work today and suggested changes to streamline the process as well as make the applications more accessible on the web. All three students were able to attend as well as Elkins High School Counselor Elyce Nasseri. Pictured l to r are Chris von Kohn, Hailey Budnick and David Kronenberger.
The following is the presentation of the students given by Cindy Calender at our installation tea with some added information.
As a member of the 2009-2010 Scholarship Committee, I would like to thank everyone for the effort that has been put forth to raise money for this very worthwhile cause. While serving on this committee yields feelings of gratification, it also yields feelings of anguish and frustration. Anguish and frustration because there are so many deserving students in our community. You want to be able to do for all the students – but unfortunately, it is not possible. Consequently, 2 High School students and 1 College student were selected based on student achievement, extra-curricular activities, teacher recommendations, employer recommendation and personal letter.
The recipients of the High School scholarships for the 2009-2010 school year are Hailey Budnick and David Kronenberger. Pictures are from the May Elkins High School Awards, with President Nancy Lindsay presenting the students.
Our first recipient, Hailey Budnick. As you will soon see, she has been a very busy young lady while attending Elkins High School. She is a member of the Varsity Swim Team, the Varsity Water Polo Team, the Science National Honor Society, the Excel Community Service Club, the National Honor Society, The National Art Honor Society, the National English Honor Society, the National Society for High School Scholars and the National Honor Roll – holding office in several of these organizations and doing many, many hours of community service.
She is also a member of her church choir, plays the guitar and piano, paints and attends art shows. One of her teachers said “ One of the things that I appreciate about Hailey is that she in not only driven to achieve for her own sake, but she influences those around her to us their brains and study carefully as well.”
Her current plans are to attend Wayland Baptist University and Major in Molecular biology with Minors in Chemistry and Christian Leadership.
As of January, Hailey was ranked 90th in her class of 566 students.
Our second high school student is David Kronenberger. David has also been a very busy young man while attending Elkins High School. He is a member of the Science National Honor Society, the English National Honor Society, the National Honor Society, the Spanish National Honor Society, the International Thespian Society, the Elkins chapter of Habitat for Humanity, the Youth Extending Service (YES) club and the Varsity Swim Team.
He is also a National Merit Finalist, an AP Scholar with Distinction, and has received the President’s Volunteer Service Award. Along with all this, he is also an Eagle Scout - completing 81 merit badges along with those required for an Eagle Scout.
He has decided to attend the University of Houston Honors College and Major in Epidemiology.
As of January, David was ranked 11th in his class of 556 students.
Our college scholarship recipient is Chris von Kohn from Texas A & M. He is pictured with some of the Day Lilies he has hybridized.
Chris became interested in horticulture and floriculture at a very young age – at 8, he bought his first orchid. He then bought more plants and currently has over 200 plants, including a Vanda for which he received a Highly Commended Certificate from the American Orchid Society in November, 2007. He is currently involved with hybridizing his own day lilies. He said that after seeing the first of his seedlings bloom last summer and the success of his hybridizing, he knew that this was what he wanted as his career.
This summer he will have the privilege of working with the Ball Horticulture as an intern in their plant breeding center. He is currently co-owner of Rush Creek Gardens with his parents in Arlington.
At A & M, he is a member of the Horticulture Club and the American Society for Horticultural Sciences Southern Region Collegiate Branch of which he will be serving as President for this current year. He is also a member of the American Hemerocallis Society, the American Orchid Society and the American Horticulture Society.
One of his horticulture professors said “Chris has progressed toward being a professional horticulturist much more rapidly than most college students, and in many ways, he is a professional already.” Chris will be returning to A & M in the fall as a senior.
A sample of Chris' hybrids are pictured here. He has developed more than 50. The pictures he showed us at the meeting captivated attendees.
We are very proud of the selections made by the Scholarship Committee and to help these outstanding students defray some of the enormous cost of a college education today.
To learn more about scholarship requirements, please press here.
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