Boston – June 6, 2024 – Today, nonprofit VHS Learning announced the winners of its 16th annual college scholarship program. The scholarship committee selected 10 scholarship recipients out of more than 55 applicants, awarding a total of $5,000 in scholarships. Two students won $1,000 scholarships, four earned $500 scholarships, and four more students won $250 scholarships.
“This year’s winners are an extraordinary group,” said Carol DeFuria, President & CEO of VHS Learning. “They all have clear ideas about what they want to do after high school, and their VHS Learning courses played a pivotal role in helping them pursue those goals. We are pleased to have helped these talented students gain the life skills and knowledge they need to take the next step in their academic journey.”
All scholarship recipients created videos that answered the scholarship program’s question: “Why did you take your VHS Learning course and what did you learn from the experience?”
Lilly Brunnick from Newburyport High School in Massachusetts won one of the two $1,000 scholarships. Volunteer teaching in the Bahamas during her junior year had made Brunnick seriously consider becoming an elementary school teacher. On returning home, Brunnick tested that decision by taking VHS Learning’s Early Childhood Education course. “No other class would have allowed me to actually go into a classroom and to receive mentorship from experienced practicing teachers,” she said in her video. “Thanks to VHS Learning, I was able to discover that being an elementary school teacher was indeed what I wanted to do.”
Isaac Kakiko from Hatboro-Horsham High School in Pennsylvania also won a $1,000 scholarship. Kakiko felt he needed more business-related courses than his school offered and so decided to take VHS Learning’s AP® Economics course. In addition to the rigor of the course, he valued the independent learning skills and self-discipline that it instilled. “Continuous learning and adaptation are essential for staying competitive and seizing opportunities for growth,” he said in his video. “I am now equipped to navigate new challenges, acquire new skills, and stay ahead of the curve.”
Miles O’Brien from Colchester High School in Vermont was one of the four $500 scholarship winners. O’Brien’s school did not offer AP® Physics C, so he took the course through VHS Learning. In his video, O’Brien praised the course’s weekly student-designed labs. “I got to see physics principles in the real world,” he said. Even when his labs failed, discussions with his classmates helped him learn from his mistakes and enhance his problem-solving skills. For example, while his Ohm’s Law lab failed, he was able to later apply the principle to create a circuit for a go-cart accelerometer. O’Brien will be pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan.
The other $500 scholarship winners are:
Hailey Dzurko from Windber Area High School in Pennsylvania. She took Marketing and Entrepreneurship. Her video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlB155ycexA.
Hailey Kriz from Westborough High School in Massachusetts. She took Spanish 2 and Algebra 2. Her video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWwXqZ6dBLc.
Kailey McCarthy from Canton High School in Connecticut. She took Health, Economics, U.S. History: 1754-1877, U.S. History: 1877-Present, 101 Ways to Write a Short Story, and Poetry Writing. Her video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM5Dmy5cNSk.
Kate DiPardo from Providence Country Day School in Rhode Island was one of the four $250 scholarship winners. While she took VHS Learning courses Creative Writing and AP® United States Government and Politics, one course, Now What Will You Do?, was pivotal to her future career. In her video, DiPardo describes being torn between two career choices and how her VHS Learning course helped her decide. “This class made me think about concepts I never learned about until then, like starting salaries, personality, interests, and job availability,” she said. She is now planning to attend the college of Holy Cross and become a lawyer.
The other $250 scholarship winners and their videos are:
Cosette Meloon, a homeschooled student affiliated with Woodstock Union High School and Middle School in Vermont. She took Chinese 3, and her video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ospOxGToP-o.
Peyton Parent from Apponequet Regional High School in Massachusetts. She took AP® Art History, and her video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1hEjQfqvnQ.
Jacob “Jake” Smith from Hull High School in Massachusetts. He took Honors Python Programming and Honors Java Programming. His video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtbI_N2-eKI.
About VHS Learning
VHS Learning is a nonprofit organization with almost 30 years of experience providing world-class online programs to students and schools everywhere. More than 500 schools around the world take advantage of VHS Learning’s 200+ online high school courses — including 29 AP® courses, credit recovery, and enrichment courses — to expand their programs of study. VHS Learning is accredited by Middle States Association Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS) and the Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (ACS WASC). Courses are approved for initial eligibility by NCAA. For more information about VHS Learning please visit https://www.vhslearning.org/ and follow on Twitter at @VHSLearning.
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