INSIDE

Scholars receive big dollars

By Davea Fisher

The sixth annual Awards Night for the Point Roberts Dollars for Scholars (DFS) was unusual in that there were more scholarships awarded then ever before, and a number of students were absent because they were already enrolled in school, or were working at internships or summer jobs. Parents of the absent students stood in for them, and for once there were no shy recipients listening to the presenters read a letter of praise, but instead proud parents glowing at all of their son’s or daughter’s compliments and accomplishments.

DFS awarded $1,000 to graduating high school seniors Kevin Teng and Kaitlyn O’Neill, $500 to ongoing college students Jennifer Jackson, Wes Hubbard, Carly Hubbard, Neil Teutsch, Rhyan Lopez, and Tiffany Range, and $500 to Kyle Teutsch, an adult returning to school.
Dollars for Scholars is proud to feature $500 scholarships given by businesses or organizations. This year Julia Carlson awarded the Sterling Savings Bank Award to Carly Hubbard, Debbie Hammer presented the Whidbey Telephone Award to Neal Teutsch, Henri Wendel awarded the Delta Cable Vision Award to Jennifer Jackson, and Kelly Kiniski presented the International Marketplace Award to Kaitlyn O’Neill. In addition, Paul Ferry presented the Point Roberts Heron Preservation Award to Kevin Teng, to assist him in pursuing studies in Environmental Planning.

Dollars for Scholars is proud to feature $500 scholarships given by individuals. This year Joan Roberts presented two awards given by people in loving memory of their spouses; the David Ashton Award, given by Sally Roberts, was awarded to Kyle Teutsch and the Don Wilson Award, given by Minda Wilson, was awarded to Tiffany Range. Kelly Kiniski presented the Evergreen Award, given by an anonymous donor, to Wes Hubbard.

The Whyte Award, an $800 scholarship donated by Jim and Luana Whyte, was awarded to Kevin Teng. The Whytes have enjoyed Point Roberts and wanted to give something back to the community.

The awards committee chose Kevin for this scholarship because of an incredible feat. Kevin came to Washington from Taiwan six years ago speaking no English. Through hard work and determination, he taught himself English and earned a GPA of 3.97 in high school.

The Point Roberts Friends of the Library gave each of the graduating high school seniors a check for $100 to defray the cost of textbooks. John Fisher presented the awards to Kaitlyn O’Neill and Kevin Teng.
One of the highlights of awards night was the fact that one of the students receiving scholarships will soon be pursuing her doctorate. Jennifer Jackson has just completed her Master of Science in Physical Therapy, and is working on a summer internship at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in San Francisco. In the fall she will begin taking classes for her doctorate. Jennifer has been a DFS scholar since 2001, and we are extremely proud of her and of all her accomplishments.

The Dollars for Scholars is grateful to the community of Point Roberts for its generosity. We have some remarkable students growing up in Point Roberts and an equally remarkable group of people who wish to assist them in furthering their education. Thank you for your continued and unwavering support.