Building a Better World

The 2010 OEA Building A Better World Scholarship winners:

• Nyssa Swanson – Global Awareness ($1000)
• Ariel Burrington – Global Awareness ($1000)
• Shelby Cardinal – Community Involvement ($1000)

Congratulations to Nyssa, Ariel, and Shelby.  Our 2010 winners are already on their way.   Each is enrolled and attending college full time – Ariel and Nyssa at Ferris and Shelby at MCC.  With the quality of the Global Awareness and Community Involvement applications, we decided not to select a Travel recipient in 2010 and instead doubled up on Global Awareness.  Please check separate links highlighted above to listen in to conversations with each of our three winners.  Nice job ladies.

Shelby Cardinal won the 2010 Building A Better World – Community Involvement Scholarship and was awarded a $1000 scholarship.  She currently is a sophomore at Muskegon Community College where she is working on her basics, leading towards a BA at a four year University in Advertising and Communications.   Shelby is a very busy gal raising her two year old son Caden Sage Dryer.  He’s a handful, but she loves him with all her heart.  Raising a young one and going to school full time is a demanding and rewarding experience.

Ariel Burrington won the 2010 Building A Better World – Global Awareness Scholarship and was awarded a $1000 scholarship.  She currently is a sophomore at Ferris State University where she is majoring in Criminal Justice with a minor in Forensics.  She is a store manager at Westco in Big Rapids and stays fit boxing and running.  Ariel loves her sisters with all of her soul and will never be far from them…spiritually or geographically.

Please check here to watch a music video on the Building A Better World Scholarship.

Thank you to all who have donated through the years to our Scholarship.  Look here to find 2009 Scholarship donors.

We are now taking donations for the 2010 Building A Better World Scholarship.  Please contact Mr. Wood at 616-402-8668 or bobwoodmsu@charter.net if you would like to donate.  Your contribution will be divided up among three 2010 OHS Seniors.  Thank you to all who donated to the 2009 Scholarship.  We were able to award three $1000 scholarships for the second straight year.  In seven years Building A Better World Scholarship has awarded 18 scholarships and raised over $13,000.

Congratulations to the 2009 OEA Building A Better World Scholarship Winners – Tyler Darnell, Sam Ferrier, Corey Swanson.  Please read and listen to the winning essays.

The 2009 OEA Building A Better World Scholarship provided us our most ever student essay entries and some of our finest winning essays in the six year history of this scholarship.  Thank you to all OHS Seniors who participated.  We wish you the best in your travels and studies down the road.  Please read and listen to our 2009 winners below, as they express their thoughts on how to help Build a Better World.  The podcasts do not always work in Firebox browser.

$1000 Global Awareness Winner – Corey Swanson

• Corey’s winning essay – PDF form – look here
• Corey reads his winning essay – listen here

…will attend Northern Michigan University in the Fall of 2009.  He plans to major in English and minor in Musical Theory.  Corey intends on working towards a PhD with the ultimate goal of becoming a University professor.   For the past two years at Oakridge he was active in all forms of political involvement.  In the 2008 presidential election Corey was a student organizer for the Obama campaign and volunteered over 110 hours.  In 2008 he chaired the OHS Super Duper Club, which took on the Democratic Party practice of the use of Super Delegates. He spoke before Congressional representatives in Lansing challenging the practice.  In the Spring of 2009 he traveled to Selma, Alabama with Oakridge students for the Bridge Crossing Jubilee.  On May 29, 2009 Corey helped to organize a Die In to bring awareness to genocide unfolding in Sudan.  He works at McDonalds and can’t wait for college to start this Fall.

$1000 Independent Travel Winner – Sam Ferrier

• Sam’s winning essay – PDF form – look here
• Sam reads her winning essay – listen here

…is taking one year off from formal study in an effort to save money and move to Portland, Oregon in August of 2010.  Sam is already a seasoned traveler, having participated in the Oakridge Close Up Program, the Selma Bridge Crossing tour in the Spring of 09, as well as numerous trips to Chicago in and out of school.  She has participated in civic activism in Washington D.C and in the Muskegon area.  She’s not quite sure what she will do with her life, but the West Coast of the United States is definitely calling.  She’s thoroughly researched Portland, Oregon and colleges in the near vicinity.  She plans to travel there with this scholarship, in March of 2010, in order to lay the foundation for a move next summer.  She may also stop over in Seattle for a couple of days on the trip.   Meanwhile she’s working fifty hours a week at K-Mart and banking her paychecks in order to become a future Oregonian.  She promises us lots of photos from Pacific Northwest on her return.

 

$1000 Community Involvement Winner – Tyler Darnell

• Tyler’s winning essay – PDF form – look here
  
• Tyler reads his winning essay – listen here

..will attend Muskegon Community College in the Fall of 2009.  His long term goals revolve around studies in physics, however along the way he’s dedicated himself to volunteering in his community.  In the past four years Tyler has volunteered over 300 hours primarily in the Egleston community doing everything from tutoring, campaigning, working with the disabled, bringing awareness to homelessness, painting to prevent graffiti, and entertaining the elderly.  He also is a member of the Muskegon Conservation Corps which spends an extensive amount of time and effort in protecting and preserving the Muskegon area environment.  Tyler recently traveled to Washington D.C. with Close Up where he further strengthened bonds with the national volunteer organization AmeriCorps.  Tyler will continue to volunteer as he makes his way through college, and is considering a tour in AmeriCorps somewhere along the way.

Read about the Building A Better World Scholarship.

OEA Building A Better World Scholarship is a grassroots locally funded scholarship for Oakridge graduating seniors. The Oakridge Education Association has recently joined with us to co-sponsor the scholarship, as has the Oakridge Alumni Association. We thank both groups for their generosity and consideration. In seven years Building A Better World has provided 18 graduating Oakridge seniors with scholarships totaling over $13,000.

The three categories of scholarships are 1 – Global Awareness 2 – Community Involvement 3 – Independent Travel

All graduating Oakridge Seniors are eligible to apply for the 2010 Building A Better World Scholarship. If you are interested please download the Scholarship Application form below and turn your completed essay (s) into the OHS Counseling office by May 1, 2010. Students may apply for one, two, or all three scholarships. If you would like to learn more or join with us and donate to Building A Better World Scholarship, check here..

Any questions on any aspect of Building A Better World, please ask here at this blog, email Mr. Wood at bwood@oakridgeschools.org or call 616-402-8668.

2010 Scholarship Form

Poster of Scholarship Winners since 2003

2008 Scholarship Winners – Dani, Rebecca, and Margarita.  Check here for a blog of their winning essays, photos, and podcasts.