Fort Payne DAR celebrates award and scholarship winners at annual ceremony
On Sunday, April 3, Fort Payne Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution held its annual awards ceremony.
The chapter recognized winners from area middle schools for participation in its American History Essay contest; seniors from the area high schools were recognized as DAR Good Citizens; three scholarships were awarded to graduating seniors seeking careers in education and math, science, and technology. A fourth scholarship was awarded in memory of the late Bettye Wehrli.
Lauren Busche, an eighth-grader from Ss. Peter and Paul School in Naperville, is the chapter winner for the American History Essay contest.
Emma Breese, eighth grade, Kennedy Junior High School in Lisle; Oliver Malley, seventh grade, Malley Academy; and Tyler Breese, fifth grade, Ranch View Elementary School in Naperville, were recognized for their outstanding work in American history.
Each was their respective school grade winner.
Approximately 65 students participated in this annual contest. This year's theme was "The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - 100th Anniversary."
The Fort Payne NSDAR Education Scholarship recipient is Noelle Coderre from Naperville North High School. Coderre plans to pursue a degree in special education and agriculture education. She has not decided which college she will attend. She was awarded $1,000 toward her freshman tuition.
Alopi Shah and Kylie Taczynski, both seniors at Metea Valley High in Naperville, are recipients of $1,000 for the Daniel Webster Scholarship. The Webster scholarship recognizes students wishing to pursue careers in science, math, and technology. Shah plans to pursue a major in biology at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Taczynski plans to attend the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, majoring in Natural resources and environmental sciences.
Faculty members at each high school select the DAR Good Citizen Awards. To receive this award, high school seniors must demonstrate qualities of dependability, service, leadership and patriotism in their homes, schools and communities.
This year's honorees are Amara Saleem and Nikunj Tyagi, both from Metea Valley High School; Bradford Kuta, Naperville Central High School; Lucy Westlake, Naperville North High School; and Matthew Ligeski, Neuqua Valley High School. Tyagi and Westlake were named chapter winners.
Westlake was named overall chapter winner and District IV winner of the Illinois State NSDAR.
Edward Chen, a senior at Waubonsie Valley High School, is the recipient of the Bettye Weber Wehrli Memorial Scholarship.
Longtime member Wehrli left $2,000 from her estate to fund a one-time scholarship. Chen's winning essay discussed the importance of the U.S. Constitution, one of Wehrli's passion. Chen plans to attend the University of Florida and major in finance.
This year's Outstanding Teacher in American History was awarded to Jeremiah Chaney of Lincoln Junior High School. Chaney has also won the Illinois State Outstanding Teacher in American History. He will receive his state award April 23 at the NSDAR Illinois State Conference in Bloomington.
This year's community service award went to Teresa Ryan, an outstanding philanthropist in Naperville and supporter of many local and international agencies. Ryan has supported more than 80 agencies and charities worldwide. Her "giveback" spirit is widely acknowledged and appreciated in Naperville.
Fort Payne wishes to congratulate all our winners and recipients. These people represent the very best of Naperville, Aurora, Lisle, and surrounding communities.
The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in 1890 to promote historic preservation, education and patriotism. Its members are descended from the patriots who won American independence during the Revolutionary War. With more than 190,000 members in approximately 3,000 chapters worldwide, DAR is one of the world's largest and most active service organizations. DAR members are committed to volunteer service having served more than 12.5 million hours in communities throughout the world.
To learn more about the work of today's DAR, visit www.DAR.org or connect with DAR on social media at www.facebook.com/TodaysDAR, twitter.com/TodaysDAR and youtube.com/TodaysDAR.