August 2020 Back Page – Meet Our 2020 Scholarship Winner
Posted: September 2, 2020
Every year the AVEC Board Scholarship Committee reviews the many applications that are received for scholarships. The Board awards scholarships twice a year with the majority being for the fall school semester. Scholarships are also awarded for the spring semester.
The largest scholarship awarded during the year is the $5,000 “Ted Stevens Memorial Award” and is sent directly to the school being attended by the winner. This year’s winner is Jayne Hanna from Mekoryuk. Following are excerpts from Jayne’s essay that I would like to share with you. Young people like this are our leaders of tomorrow.
“Growing up in an isolated Alaskan village, I have experienced many of the unique challenges that rural students face in attaining a quality education. My name is Jayne Hanna, and I am a second-year student attending Biola University in La Mirada, California. I am a graduate of Nuniwarmiut School in Mekoryuk, Alaska. My personal experience is one of the factors that led me to pursue a career in teaching mathematics at the high school level in rural villages like my own. Since moving to an urban university setting, I am beginning to recognize specific areas where I can incorporate different cultures of learning to help my students achieve success. As a future educator in rural Alaska, I hope to share my love for learning with students to incite positive change within my community.
“Since graduating from high school and attending university, I have become even more passionate about finding ways to incite positive change within AVEC communities like my own. Although many rural AVEC communities are small in size, they have been the settings of powerful testimonies of survival, perseverance and true grit for generations. I hope to follow the examples of my ancestors to create a similar story by achieving a university education and returning to strengthen the next generation as a high school teacher and community leader. Our communities may be small, but even our history attests to our potential to accomplish our dreams.”
In addition to the Ted Stevens Memorial Award, several additional $1,000 scholarships are awarded every year. Those awardees will be recognized on our website later this year.
Until next time…
