Shoe drive supports the community

The Interact Club at Archbishop Murphy High School held its annual shoe drive this spring, collecting more than 2,000 pairs of shoes for those in need.

The AMHS Interact Club, sponsored by the Mill Creek Rotary, is a service-based student-run club with 20 members. The goal of the club is to provide outreach to the local and greater community through various projects.

The shoe drive, organized by juniors Hannah Jordan and Marie Adams, began May 4 and continued through June 5. Club members organized class contests to see which class could contribute the most pairs of shoes.

Through daily announcements, posters in the hallways and prizes, the entire student body rallied around the project. The sophomore class won the class contest by contributing more than 1,000 pairs of shoes.

The Youth Migrant Project benefited from this year’s shoe drive. Youth Migrant Project is a program based at St. Charles Catholic Church in Burlington. Middle-school and high-school age youths come from around the Archdiocese of Seattle to the Skagit Valley to assist local migrant farm workers. St. Charles Parish began the migrant project in the late 1970s. Every summer, more than 2,000 men, women and children benefit in some way from the project.

The AMHS Interact Club, which began in 2006, is looking forward to their next project – to raise money to purchase wheelchairs for those in need in Guatemala. A wheelchair basketball tournament and homeroom competitions are planned for the fall.

Foundation recipients named

The Everett Public Schools Foundation announced scholarship recipients for the graduating class of 2009 from Everett, Cascade, Henry M. Jackson and Sequoia high schools. Scholarships are derived from endowment funds set up in memory or honor of many individuals by their families and friends.

Here is a partial list of scholarship recipients:

Bill Shershon Memorial Scholarship

Ÿ Christina Lee, HM Jackson High School, $750, Shoreline Community College

Bob Whitehead Memorial Scholarship

Ÿ Candace Feingold, HM Jackson High School, will attend Western Washington University

Daniel Stein Science and Technology Scholarship Endowment

Ÿ Carolyn Gunthardt, HM Jackson High School, $1,000, will attend the University of Washington

Ÿ Michael Tomber, HM Jackson High School, $1,000, will attend the University of Washington

Everett Public Schools Foundation~Visual Arts Scholarship (sponsored by the Howarth Fund)

Ÿ Alex Manea, HM Jackson High School, $500, will attend the Cornish Institute of the Arts

Ÿ Alexa Taylor, HM Jackson High School, $500, college TBA

Frances LaGrave Scholarship Endowment

Ÿ Salma Villalobos, HM Jackson High School, $1,000, will attend Everett Community College

Oftsie Scholarship

Ÿ Macy Medema, HM Jackson High School, $1,000, will attend the University of Washington

Willinor Scholarship Fund

Ÿ David Sullivan, HM Jackson High School, $500, college TBA

The Everett Public Schools Foundation is proud to play a part in facilitating scholarships in memory and honor of outstanding individuals and organizations. For more information on how you can invest in or create a scholarship endowment, please call executive director Kristie Dutton at 425-385-4693.