Columbia Association selects six service-minded seniors as Spirit of Columbia scholarship winners

For more than 25 years, Columbia Association (CA) has been recognizing high school seniors for outstanding service to their community. This year, the Maggie J. Brown Spirit of Columbia Scholarship Award, a $2,500 scholarship, was awarded to six high school seniors who have shown extraordinary dedication to performing community service. They are:

Evan-Nicole Bell, from Wilde Lake High School, has volunteered as a junior coach for Girls on the Run since 2011, serving as a role model and mentor. Bell has also been involved with Wilde Lake Middle School’s “After School at the Lake” program, where she tutors middle school students in math, science, social studies and reading. Bell will be attending Duke University in the fall.

Matthew Bleakney, from Atholton High School, is an Eagle Scout. For his Eagle Scout Project, Bleakney designed and built a handicap-accessible patio, table and benches for the ARC of Howard County’s clients to enjoy. He managed and executed the entire project from conception to completion. In addition, Bleakney has been tutoring his peers in science at Atholton High since 2011. Bleakney will be attending UMBC in the fall.

Sabrina Elshafei, from Atholton High School, has recently obtained the Gold Award in Girl Scouts. For her Gold Award service project, Elshafei renovated the speech therapy room at Head Start, transforming a dark, musty and cramped space into a colorful, brighter and more attractive space for the students. While in middle school, Elshafei developed a new program called “Adopt a Tiger Shark,” in which an eighth-grade student would mentor a sixth-grade student. Elshafei will be attending University of Maryland in the fall.

Katrina Hodge, from Wilde Lake High School, has been involved in her school’s “Best Buddies” program since 2010 and has served as its vice president and secretary. Hodge became involved with this program to become an advocate for students with intellectual disabilities and to gain knowledge of the challenges they face. She has also been an event volunteer at Kahler Hall in Harper’s Choice for the past four years. Hodge will be attending Chowan University in the fall.

Tiffany Kan, from River Hill High School, has served on River Hill’s Teen Advisory Committee since her sophomore year, and for the past two years she has been in a leadership role as the student member of the River Hill Community Association’s Board of Directors. Kan is also a co-founder of the Coalition Halting Obesity in Children Everywhere (CHOICE), a nonprofit formed to educate and engage the public on issues relating to childhood obesity. Kan will be attending Virginia Commonwealth University in the fall.