Woods Hole Woman's Club awards Scholarships

The Woods Hole Woman’s Club has awarded scholarships to seven Precinct One high school seniors. Gabriella Jurczyk, Maggie McLean, Eleanor Rosenthal, and George Weiffenbach will graduate from Falmouth High School. Cecilia Palanza will graduate from Sturgis Charter School, Natalia Traykovski from St. John Paul II school, and Lucia Gomez-Ibanez is completing her studies in Norway at United World College.

Club members extend sincere congratulations to these outstanding students, all of whom have strong academic records and a wide variety of achievements. Five of the seven were honored at the Club’s Scholarship Tea on May 6 and spoke with members, one sent a video acceptance that was shown to the group and the seventh sent a written statement to share.

Lucia Gomez-Ibanez participated in theater and choral programs at Falmouth High School and was instrumental in developing the school’s Peer Mentor Program for English Language Development. International folk dancing and wilderness exploring are life-long interests. She is enrolled in United World College, one of a network of schools across the world that host students from over 85 countries with a mission of uniting people, nations, and cultures to promote peace and stability.

Marysol Jurczyk (“MJ”) is an accomplished figure skater who performed in the recent Falmouth Figure Skating Club’s Ice Frolics. Four years of varsity field hockey and lacrosse were also in her schedule. She began taking ceramics classes as a junior and this year had a piece selected for the Annual National K-12 Ceramic Exhibition in Salt Lake City, Utah. MJ has worked at La Cucina restaurant in Falmouth. She plans to attend the University of Utah in Salt Lake City with the goal of becoming a dentist.

Maggie McLean writes about the transformative experience of working in a lab at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution where she learned to appreciate the slow and incremental process needed to build an understanding of biology. Outside of the lab, Maggie played varsity volleyball and lacrosse and has been participating in a monthly ocean plunge. Readers may have seen Maggie working at Captain Kidd Restaurant or teaching swimming at Stoney Beach. She plans to enroll at McGill University in Quebec, Canada, to major in biology.

Cecilia Palanza played high school tennis and participated in the technical aspect of theater productions at Sturgis High School and with the Falmouth Theater Guild. She appreciates the positive impact of both her theater family and her extended biological family on her development of strong roots and wings as evident in her hopes to travel widely. Cecilia has worked at the Glass Onion Restaurant for four years. She plans to attend DePaul University in Chicago to major in Communications.

Eleanor Rosenthal competed at the State Science Fair at MIT after progressing through the Falmouth and Regional Fairs. She has also earned the Massachusetts Seal of Biliteracy for proficiency in English and Spanish and has represented Barnstable County on Gov. Healey’s Youth Advisory Council. She helped to restart and then captained the Mock Trial Team. Her employment history includes working at Water Street Kitchen and caring for both children and pets. Eleanor plans to attend Tufts University in Boston and to study architecture.

Natalia Traykovski played both varsity and club soccer and has been volunteering at the Falmouth Service Center for two years. She values all she has learned from family and friends about a variety of cultures. Creative expression through drawing is important to her and she has developed a portfolio of artwork for college applications with hopes of preparing for work in the architectural field. Natalia has worked in food service at both the Station Grill and Dana’s Kitchen. She will attend Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI and study architecture.

George Weiffenbach writes that he learned the necessity for discipline and hard work in meeting the challenges faced in demanding classes. He served as a leader for the High School’s Robotics and Model UN teams, volunteered as a dog park steward and supporting local road races, and enjoys basketball and mountain biking. Work experience was gained at Country Fare restaurant. George plans to attend Bentley University to study business with an entrepreneurial goal of starting a business, combining his interests in accounting and technology.

The Scholarship Committee, headed by Jennifer Gaines, is proud to add these students to the 150 others who have received scholarships from the Woods Hole Woman’s Club since 1980. Donations to the scholarship fund are welcome throughout the year. Checks should be written to the WHWC Charitable Trust and mailed to Kitty Brown, WHWC, PO Box 342, Woods Hole, MA 02543.

The Woods Hole Woman’s Club brings members together to provide enrichment and mutual helpfulness for the betterment of Woods Hole and the surrounding communities. New members are welcomed at any time during the year. Information about membership is available from Susan Houghton at greenhealingrn@comcast.net.

More information about the club and its activities may be seen here: http://www.woodsholewomansclub.org