The Huntley District 158 Education Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2021 Student Scholarship Awards and the James “Barney” Manning Memorial Scholarship with a combined total of $12,500.
This year, the Foundation received 70 applications from Huntley High School seniors all vying for an opportunity to be selected for a chance to receive financial assistance for continuing their education. Following an online application process which included a series of questions and a statement explaining the reasons for the applicant’s school choice, area of study, career goals and how they plan to achieve those goals, 15 finalists were selected for personal interviews. Foundation President and Scholarship Committee Chairperson Anita Adam along with members Kim Skaja and Kieran Zastrow conducted the interviews over a two-day period before determining this years’ recipients.
Scholarship recipients are individuals who demonstrate a positive engagement in community service, active participation in extracurricular activities, effective leadership qualities, strong academic strength, and a desire to achieve on the collegiate or trade school level.
Huntley High School Class of 2021 students who will receive scholarships:
Nicholas Pratt, $2,500 – Nicholas will attend Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia where he will major in Graphic Design. During high school, he was a member of the Marching Band, Student Council, and Technical Theater. Nicholas was also Section Editor in 2019 and Editor-in-Chief in 2020 for Huntley High School’s Harmony Yearbook. Having been a part of these school activities throughout high school “was definitely a choice that truly taught me effective time management. However, the most notable skill I’ve taken from participating in Harmony Yearbook is my significantly improved design skills,” which ultimately led to a first-place win in Yearbook Layout Design at the 2019 IHSA State Finals for Journalism.
Faith Doy, $2,000 – Pursuing a degree in Molecular Biology and Mathematics on a Pre-Med Track, Faith will be attending Loyola University Chicago. Playing on the volleyball and softball teams taught her “compassion, time management, determination and failure.” Outside of school, Faith was active in club softball, club volleyball and was an assistant coach for Little League Baseball. Going hand-in-hand with her career goals, Faith immersed herself in classes as part of Huntley High School’s Medical Academy throughout her entire high school career and she looks forward to the many opportunities that lie ahead in the medical field.
Umer Khan, $2,000 – In the fall, Umer will attend McHenry County College in Crystal Lake where he will pursue an Associates in Science degree before transferring to either Loyola University or the University of Illinois in Chicago to work toward attaining a Neuroscience degree. Umer says his purpose in life is to help people and “one of the best ways of helping people is to… become a doctor. A doctor is one of the only professions where people come to seek professional help purposely. I want to be there for anybody if that means I can make the world just slightly better.”
Annabel Johnson, $1,500 – Building on her love of math and numbers, Annabel enrolled in the Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Intro to Engineering class. Although feeling somewhat out of place as one of only two girls in the class, she continued on and “after building a robot that successfully moved across the classroom, and a skee-ball machine that could actually keep score, and doing all of that with knowledge in my own head, I knew engineering was the field for me.” Annabel also applied to and was accepted into Huntley High School’s Engineering Academy. This fall, she will be attending the University of Alabama at Birmingham where she will study Biomedical Engineering.
Raquel Radermacher, $1,500 – Raquel has ambitions of obtaining a degree in Biochemistry/Biology on a pre-med track this fall while attending Loyola University Chicago. After Loyola, she will attend medical school to achieve her end goal of becoming a pediatric surgical oncologist. “Mixing my passion for wanting to help children who are facing adversity and my love for science, makes treating kids with cancer seems like a fitting career.”
Elizabeth Troy, $1,500 – After being accepted into the Medical Academy at HHS and having the ability to take a wide variety of medically-based classes throughout her high school career, Elizabeth has chosen to pursue a degree in Human Physiology on a pre-physician assistant track at the University of Iowa. “The biomedical focus of the classes instantly caught my attention and got me interested in medicine. I believe everyone should have easy access to proper and affordable healthcare. My life is centered around helping others, and a career in medicine… allows me to connect on a deeper level with patients and make a difference.”
Jacob Richardson, $500 James “Barney” Manning and $1,000 Education Foundation – This fall, Jacob will be attending LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering. Following his beliefs of “identifying what a local or global community needs and then using our education and skills to volunteer to meet that need,” Jacob chose LeTourneau because they place a high value on service. After college, he hopes to “create a non-profit organization that teaches practical skills to others and provide for Chicago’s families, neighbors, and communities. My dream could start a chain-reaction and lift others out of poverty, one person at a time.”
The Education Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization that works with the School District and community to provide scholarships to high school seniors and grants to teachers for innovative programs in their classrooms.
Special thanks to the community, local businesses, and key supporters of the Foundation without whom we would not be able to provide this wonderful opportunity to our students.
For more information about the District 158 Education Foundation, please visit the Foundation webpage at district158.org/foundation.
Best wishes and congratulations to the entire 2021 graduating class of Huntley High School!
