Nonprofit VHS Learning announced the winners of their 13th annual college scholarship program. This year, the nonprofit has more than doubled its scholarship investment, awarding a grand total of $5,000 in college scholarships to 12 high school seniors. In previous years three students received awards, but this year for the first time, VHS Learning expanded its program to 12 students. One high school senior received the top prize, a $1000 scholarship, five students have been awarded $500 scholarships, and in a completely new addition to the program this year, six students received $250 scholarships.
“We wanted to expand our scholarship program to help as many students as possible this year, especially given world events” said Carol Ribeiro, President & CEO of VHS Learning. “We are a small nonprofit, and we are dedicated to supporting our students. Although we know senior year 2020 is not what these students expected, we hope these scholarship awards help to recognize their efforts and all they have accomplished during their academic careers.”
All scholarship recipients created videos that answered the scholarship program’s question for this year: “In your VHS Learning course, what project or activity inspired you most?”
Graduating senior Yeseul Bae from Logos International School in Cambodia won the $1,000 award with her original video about her three VHS Learning courses — AP Biology, AP Chemistry, and Anatomy and Physiology, her first online learning experience. She highlighted VHS Learning’s hands on lab work as especially inspirational. One project she cited was dissecting a chicken leg for Anatomy and Physiology. “It was fascinating to see how the tendons connected the muscles to the bones to allow for movement,” Bae said. While medicine had always been on her radar, those experiments sparked her passion and gave her a new perspective on her future. “The inspiration I gained from my VHS Learning labs has been a great motivation in my life and will continue to be so,” she declared.
Mckenna Newnam from Padua Academy in Delaware was one of the $500 college scholarship winners. Her video described a virtual autopsy project in her Forensic Science class. She chose the body was of a 62-year-old man and after analysis correctly determined his cause of death as liver failure. “That was the lesson in my forensic science class that told me that I could actually achieve my dream and become a forensic pathologist,” she said.
Other $500 scholarship winners and their videos can be found below:
Emmaline Kent from Nipmuc Regional High School in Massachusetts
Monica Ruiz from Holly High School in Michigan
Nachum Markov from Yeshiva Ohr Yisrael in Massachusetts
Peter Li from Westborough High School in Massachusetts
Elena Crane Cuerda from Lenox Memorial High School in Massachusetts was among the $250 scholarship winners. In her video, she discusses how she and a group of classmates designed an island nation for their AP United States Government and Politics course. “I didn’t think that collaborating without face-to-face interaction would work, and this project definitely proved me wrong,” she said. “This skill is helpful to me now, especially since all of my classes are online due to coronavirus.” The project convinced Cuerda to pursue a governmental career. “I will be studying at Ohio State University as an International Studies major and a part of the International Affairs Scholars Program,” she stated.
Other $250 scholarship winners and their videos can be found below:
Alina Antropova from Southwick Regional School in Massachusetts
Anastasia Antropova from Southwick Regional School in Massachusetts
Celeste Zirm from Columbian High School in Ohio
Isabella Joyce from Allentown Central Catholic High School in Pennsylvania
Sofia Knopf from Norton High School in Massachusetts
About VHS Learning
VHS Learning is a nonprofit organization with 25 years of experience providing world-class online programs to students and schools everywhere. Offering more than 220 unique online courses, including 24 AP® courses, credit recovery and enrichment courses, and a selection of dual-credit options, VHS Learning is accredited by Middle States Association Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS), Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (ACS WASC), and Cognia. 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.
