Scholarship Created in Honor of Thomas J. Nestor

As friends and family mourn the loss of Thomas J. Nestor, a 2010 Wakefield High School graduate, Eagle Scout and dual sport athlete, they also look to honor the life of someone who deeply impacted so many members of the community. Nestor passed away in a skiing accident on Dec. 12 at Canon Mountain in Franconia, New Hampshire.

As a way to honor Nestor's memory, Rachel Barron,  a science teacher at Wakefield Memorial High School who had Nestor as a student in her Anatomy and Physiology class last year, has spearheaded the effort to start a $5000 Thomas J. Nestory Scholarship through the Citizen's Scholarship Foundation (CSF).

The CSF is a part of Dollars for Scholars, a program dedicated to providing need-based scholarships.  Every year the program awards a variety of scholarships, and this year, provided the necessary money can be raised, the Thomas J. Nestor Scholarship will be added to this list to be presented at senior awards night at WHS.  

A Lasting Impact
After Nestor's graduation, Barron said she and Nestor had kept in touch during his first semester at UMASS Lowell, where he was majoring in Environmental Science.  Barron said that Nestor had shared with her his future goal of helping people through advances in  clean and sustainable energy. 

Barron said she believes creating the scholarship at Wakefield High is the best way to honor Nestor.

"This way," Barron states, "someone can continue in his footsteps and help in a way he can't now."

Qualifying Attributes
The scholarship will be given to a student who possesses shares the same values and goals as Nestor.  Barron says that this means a person who gives back to their community and wants to help others in the future.  

Qualified candidates may be an Eagle Scout, as Nestor invested a lot of time and commitment to the Boy Scouts.  Within the scouts, Nestor was a dedicated, respected and loved leader. 

In the summer of 2010 he took the younger scouts on a two week backpacking trip in Philmont, New Mexico.  Barron explained that many of the young scouts looked up to him and when he led a trip he always had a high attendance number. 

"He spent time teaching the younger boys to make a fire and dinner," Barron states, "and they appreciated that."

Students thinking of majoring in Environmental Science in college also demonstrate interest and dedication to the values Nestor held.  Nestor was always deeply interested the environment and the outdoors, which is part of what led him to work at REI in Reading.  Baron said that on a recent trip to REI, she found them wearing ribbons in his honor and further learned the store's manager had already written the chain's chief executive officer requesting a company donation for the scholarship. 

"It just goes to show what a large impact he had on a lot of people," Barron said.

Students who want or need scholarships will have to fill out an application and write an essay.  As the applications come in, the first step in awarding the scholarship will be looking at the group of need-based students, a number that can be fairly large in Wakefield, Barron said. The ultimate decision of who to award the scholarship to will be up to Barron and the Nestor family.

Donations Sought
Barron is currently working to raise money for the scholarship.  She and other teachers and students are looking into possible fundraising events that could be held in the coming months.  Private donations can be made online at www.csfofwakefield.org or via check, made out to CSF Wakefield.  If interested in donating, please see below for more details.

In order to donate through the CSF site, click on "PayPal Donations Page" and then "Endowment Funds."  Once payment information is submitted, label the memo section "Thomas J. Nestor Scholarship Foundation."  If mailing a check, please make out to "CSF Wakefield" and in the memo write "Thomas J. Nestor Scholarship Foundation." 

Checks can be mailed to:
PO Box 321
Wakefield, MA 01880

This donation is tax deductible.  The tax ID number is 042444195. 

For more information contact Rachel Barron at barron@wakefield.k12.ma.us