Garden Club Honors

Since 1977, the Lakewood Garden Club has served the community through service and outreach programs. This year, the Scholarship Committee, chaired by Roberta Minor and with the able assistance of Carol Allman, Edie Schmidt and Kaye Vance, has selected two outstanding students from Lee’s Summit North High School to receive $500 scholarships to the schools of their choice.

Ashley Paul, our first recipient, is a talented scholarathlete interested in serving elementary age children as a speech pathologist. Excited to make a difference in a meaningful way, Ashley wants a future that will involve helping children. At Rockhurst University she found the right program in “Communication Sciences and Disorders.” As a student at LSN, Ashley has distinguished herself as a skilled tennis player, a cellist in the orchestra, as an officer on the Student Council and by working in the high school counselling office. All of these activities require hard work, diligence, focus and strong character. Outside of school, Ashley has pursued extra-curricular activities serving others. As a member of Cold Water, Ashley has delivered meals for those in need, participated in trash clean-ups with the Band of Angels, volunteered to teach tennis to middle-school students and joined Kids Country to assist working parents with child care after school. It was by exhibiting common sense, compassion and the ability to work confidentially that Ashley was offered the paid position working in the counselling office. Mindful of the high expenses of attending a private university, Ashley is doing all she can to offset the cost of her education.

Our second recipient is Ella Pierson, a student passionate about saving the environment. Although accepted at the University of Montana’s, Davidson Honor College, Ella has decided to attend Longview Community College before transferring to pursue a major in “Environmental Science and Sustainability.” At Longview she will enter as an A+ Scholarship winner and will study Parks, Tourism & Management with an emphasis on natural resources. As part of this program, Ella will complete 400 volunteer hours with the National Park Service. She is also passionate about photography. At LSN, Ella worked on the yearbook staff and put her hobby to good use. Those who know Ella best, can’t think about her without noting her kind heart, wide-open to animals and children. In the years ahead Ella hopes to learn more about water and resource conservation. Her hope is to influence both the government and large corporations to become more responsible stewards in the conservation of the earth’s resources. It’s therefore no surprise that her goal is to live a sustainable lifestyle in harmony with nature.

As always, the task of identifying Garden Club scholarship winners is difficult. The outstanding academic and personal qualities of Ashley Paul and Ella Pierson make them worthy recipients.