Schools
IN BRIEF
Deadline extended for scholarship applications
SCHOOLS
March 31-April 6, 2021
THE WOODSTOCK INDEPENDENT
10
COURTESY PHOTOS
Key Club members help provide food to McHenry County neighbors at the weekly drive-thru food distribution at The Church of Holy Apostles in McHenry.
Not just meetings, Key Club helps others WHS students work with food collection, conservancy district By Janet Dovidio
NEWS@THEWOODSTOCKINDEPENDENT
The COVID-19 pandemic has not deterred the Woodstock High School Key Club’s community outreach. “Our second semester volunteer activities are off to a great start,” said co-adviser Shannon Landwehr, director of school counseling. “We don’t hold meetings, but instead gather to help others.” Eight students went to McHenry’s Church of Holy Apostles on Feb. 24 to help with the church’s weekly food distribution. They joined parish coordinator Rick Pizarek and regular weekly volunteers to distribute food. The parish effort, which began in May 2020, gathered monetary donations and bought food from the Northern Illinois Food Bank to respond to a need with their parishioners and neighbors. A small team of parish members rents a refrigerated truck to pick up food in Waukegan for this effort, which is a community project
WHS Key Club members Hunter Lisowski, Kaia Sweet, and Abby Weber add to the burn pile at Donato Conservation Area. that involves volunteers of all ages. “Young backs and muscles, combined with bilingual skills, organizational methods, and lots of love, made this drive-thru food distribution a great activity for the Key Club students to be a part of,” Landwehr said. “They have found the act of giving back to others is nourishment as well.” For a second outreach, club members helped The Land Conservancy in its initiatives that were started by Bill Donato, retired environmental science teacher at WHS. Twenty Key Club members lent a hand at the Donato Conservation Area on March 7. “TLC restoration ecologists Megan Oropeza and Kim Elsenbroek shared their organization’s mission, taught the students how to identify invasive plant species such as honeysuckle and buckthorn, and how to clear the area
for native plants to better be able to thrive,” Landwehr said. In less than three hours, the students’ efforts resulted in a noticeable positive impact in the work area. “The students really enjoy being outside, learning new skills and making a positive impact with their peers,” Landwehr said. Landwehr and math teacher Brigid Fujino are WHS Key Club advisers. Student officers are Ireland Dunnett, Daniela Hernandez, Jay Patel, Theresa Presisto, McKenna Sweet, and Pujan Soni. “We’re pretty casual and don’t have positions for our officers – they are just Key Club officers,” Landwehr explained. “It is always great to highlight the wonderful aspects of our community through our outreach efforts.”
The Environmental Defenders of McHenry County is extending its deadline for applications for up to three college scholarships of $1,000 each to outstanding high school seniors planning to pursue studies related to environmental/sustainability or conservation. To be eligible, an applicant must reside and attend high school in McHenry County, have proven volunteer work in the related fields, have a respectable GPA, provide two letters of recommendation, plan to attend an accredited college or university, and complete the scholarship application, which is now available online at mcdef. org/2021-student-scholarships. The application and accompanying documents are due to The Environmental Defenders’ office by Thursday, April 22.
Deadline approaching for $1,000 Fike scholarship
Applications are due April 12 for the Nancy Fike Scholarship awarded by the McHenry County Historical Society & Museum in honor of its former administrator. The $1,000 stipend is awarded annually to a graduating senior from a McHenry County high school who plans to study education, history, or the social sciences. Applicants must have a minimum 3.0 GPA, provide two letters of recommendation (one from a faculty member and one from another representative of the community), show proof of community service, and write a minimum 500-word essay relevant to McHenry County. This year’s essay involves comparing the COVID-19 pandemic with an earlier health crisis, such as the flu outbreak of 1918 or the polio epidemic of the 1940s and ’50s. For more information, call 815-9232267; email info@mchenrycountyhistory.org;or visit gothistory.org.
COLLEGE CURRENTS Named to EIU dean’s list Heather Vosburgh of Woodstock has been named to the dean’s list in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences for the fall 2020 semester at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.
