Building a Better World

Please go here to access the 2017 OEA / OPC Building A Better World Scholarship.

Three awards – $2000 each – two for scholarships for post high school education and one to travel the world.  Please go here to read about the history of our scholarship and to meet our past award winners.  The deadline for submission to the Building A Better World Scholarship is Monday May 15, 2017.

Submit your scholarship entry(s) to bwood@oakridgeschools.org by the noted due date.  

Good luck and thank you for inspiring us to help you to Build a Better World.

Excerpts from Paula Shay’s winning essay for the Community Involvement portion of the 2015 Building A Better World Scholarship. 2015 BBW Winners.  Please go here to learn of Paula’s successful challenge of the OHS graduation dress code.

National Honors’ Society – “Personally, my eyes were closed for my first two years because of the adjustments happening in my personal life but being accepted into the National Honors Society in my  Junior year opened me up to the idea and the importance of volunteering and community involvement. Through my outreach into the community through tutoring and helping and just being there I have grown as a person and seen so many things that have just humbled me in the deepest sense.”

The effects of poverty – “While helping tutor students on the elementary and middle school level I have seen the poverty that is one of the underlying characteristic of our community first hand.  Students that don’t have shoes that fit right anymore and have no money to purchase new ones.  Students that don’t have anyone to talk to about their dreams or fears because mom and dad have to work all the time.  I have seen it all and worked with these students in the hopes of  bettering their lives, even just a little by having someone to talk to.”

My Plan – “After graduation I plan on attending Western Michigan University and pursuing volunteer opportunities such as knitting hats and scarves for the homeless with my colleague Dominique Jessen and volunteering my time in local animal shelters to help animals find the perfect forever home. I know it doesn’t sound like a lot but it will mean a lot to the homeless and for the animals and for the new owners of the animals. Once I become financially stable and can do more, I will. Maybe I might work with Dominique on creating a non­profit organization or something else along those lines. No matter what it is I plan on majoring in or where I go in this wide world I plan on volunteering to make my community, my world, a better place to live in.”

Excerpts from Ivy Lewis’ winning essay for the Independent Travel portion of the 2015 Building A Better World Scholarship.  Go here for Ivy’s Global Awareness essay.  2015 BBW Winners.

Ivy the Actor  –  “Theater is something I’ve grown immensely appreciative of throughout my High School career. I love being on stage because of the vibe I am able to give to other people. When I step on stage as a character I get to live life through another persons shoes for a couple hours. I’ve learned so much about acting and being oneself just from the theater program I’ve been involved in here at Oakridge. Even though we don’t have the fanciest stage or props, we put our time and effort fully into these shows.  My director, Ms. Kim Nelski, has taught me everything I know and has spent countless hours just helping me try to pursue what I love.”

Broadway  – “I’d love to see a musical because I’ve always been in musicals. I love watching people blend music into acting, and musical theater is the only kind of theater that America can claim as their creation. I’ve seen traveling broadway shows, but I’ve never seen theater outside of Michigan. I know things are different depending on where in the world you are, but I never truly understood this until I walked the street fair in Selma, Alabama. I had been to street fairs before, but the one in Selma had an extremely different feel to it.  If something like a street fair can give me that feeling, I can’t imagine the excitement I would experience walking on a street I’ve dreamed about for the  past four years.”

A cup of coffee on Times Square – “Times Square is the heart of New York. It’s that signature picture one sees in movies, on posters, and in dreams. Just walking around Times Squair would be a great experience in itself. I want to sit down in a nice restaurant and eat dinner in Times Square at night.  Then I can go explore the area and see what the city has to offer. A trip needs spontaneity, and this is where it can come in. The next morning I plan to go to a little coffee shop in Times Square so I can see the difference between early morning and bustling nighttime.”