FOWA Scholarship Program
2009 Recipients: Matt Badolato | Chris Thurne
Past Recipients: Sara Ypsilanti | Mike Matthews | Eric Zamora | Nicole Ellis | Elena Velkoye
Learn more: FOWA Scholarship Program
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Jill Zima Borski presents a FOWA |
Sara Ypsilanti of Key Largo has arts and academics in her genes! Her father is a talented bass player while an administrator with a nearby community college. Her mother works at the only high school in the Upper Keys, Coral Shores High School, where Sara is finishing her senior year. Her brother, Daniel, recently graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelors degree in fine arts focused on photography and expects to pursue a masters degree.
Sara’s accomplishments in high school are many. She earned a 4.0 GPA while participating in the many opportunities high school offered and while working in retail establishments. She is entrusted by the owner of an independently-owned bookstore with opening and closing – certainly an endorsement of her maturity, dependability and trustworthiness.
Especially noteworthy for FOWA, Sara participated in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Summer Journalism Workshop in New York in 2006 and 2007. Both times, she won awards for creativity and layout prowess.
Sara enjoys working on her school’s yearbook doing both layout and verbiage. She is the yearbook’s Student Life editor.
One can tell from her creative essay about the outdoors that she enjoys the Keys lifestyle and interacting with its marine environment. Participation in teacher David Makepeace’s marine sciences classes gave Sara hands-on interaction with coral and other sea life.
Sara is choosing to attend the New College in Sarasota because of its emphasis on nature and hands-on learning. There are no competitive school sports, and the classes are all taught by degreed professors, according to Sara. There are 800 undergraduates students at New College and the teacher-student ratio is 10:1. “I’m going to New College to get the best education I can get,” said Sara.
As for her future, Sara foresees a career combining communications and travel. “I hope to make things better in places where there is great need.”
