Student Achievements: Celebrate These
1. Super service
Members of the Mockingbird Chapter of the National Charity League in the last year contributed 8,998 hours of community service to Dallas philanthropy partners working in crisis and violence intervention, education, elderly and animal support, and poverty and hunger prevention.
NCL, a nonprofit focused on philanthropy and leadership development, fosters mother-daughter relationships by providing opportunities for community service.
The Mockingbird Chapter boasts about 275 members, including girls in grade seven to 12 from Highland Park and Lake Highlands high schools; E.D. Walker Middle School; Christ the King St. Monica, St. Patrick, St. Rita, and St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic schools; Lakehill Preparatory School, Dallas Lutheran School, and Ursuline Academy.
During its Celebration of Service on Sept. 16 at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church, the chapter also honored Mia Barnett, a senior at Dallas Lutheran School in Dallas and daughter of Laura and Dan Barnett.
With 150 hours of community service, she won the Merci Award as the Chapter Ticktocker who completed the most individual philanthropic service hours. To learn more, visit nationalcharityleague.org/chapter /mockingbird.
2. Rocket girl
The Hockaday School’s Sydney Slay went to space camp in Huntsville, Alabama again – this time for the Advanced Space Academy this summer.
The 16-year-old even earned college credit, her mother said. Introduction to Space Science (ESS 100), a one-hour course from The University of Alabama in Huntsville, will transfer to other schools, Alicia Slay said.
Sydney, a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) enthusiast who participates on a robotics team at Hockaday, has spent parts of several summers at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, where she’s participated in mission simulations. She couldn’t go last year because of the pandemic.
One year she got an idea of what it might be like on a lunar mission through the center’s one-sixth gravity chair. This year she learned to scuba dive.
She is now eligible to attend the Elite Space Academy next year.
3. Fairway to Success siblings
A couple of 2021 Thomas Jefferson High School (TJ) graduates followed their siblings’ footsteps and earned Deloitte/NTPGA Fairway to Success scholarships.
In all, seven 2021 Dallas ISD high school graduates received the scholarships.
Espinosa, the sibling of 2018 recipient Elia Espinosa, is pursuing a degree in hospitality management at the University of North Texas at Dallas, where she received a full, four-year scholarship as part of the Fairway to Success program.
Alejandra Resendez, the sibling of 2019 recipient Miriam Resendez-Ortiz, is pursuing a degree in nursing at the University of Texas at Arlington. Her scholarship: $20,000.
The Fairway to Success program awards scholarships based on academic performance, extracurricular activities, community involvement, and financial need and introduces students to golf and the life lessons of discipline, honor, and integrity.
