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OHS Seniors Earn American Heritage Scholarship Funds
heritage award
Claiming $4,200 of the $10,000 awarded last week by the Stanislaus County Office of Education were five Oakdale High School Seniors. Photographed, from left: Elizabeth White, Savannah Larsen, Anne Homer, Annalise Vander Veen and Taryn Lane. The five young women were recipients of varying scholarship levels for their American Heritage essays. Teresa Hammond/The Leader

A total of five Oakdale High School seniors were among the 19 Stanislaus County students honored last Thursday with monetary scholarships. This fall, 195 high school juniors and seniors from throughout the county participated in the American Heritage Scholarship Series essay contest.

The following OHS seniors received the following honors: Taryn Lane, $2,000; Elizabeth White, $1,500; Annalise Vander Veen, $500; Anne Homer and Savannah Larsen, $100.

Presented by Stanislaus County Office of Education, the American Heritage Scholarship is possible thanks to the support of organizations and individuals who contribute to the success of the program.

Teaching students and adults to think critically about issues affecting the United States, and increasing their awareness of what it means to be an American, are the goals of the American Heritage Scholarship Program.

Earlier this fall Jeffrey Darnell, John Lee and Michael Vitello, focused on who has the right to legalize recreational marijuana. Students had to discuss who they believed should have the rights to legalize recreational marijuana: state, federal or local governments. The students were asked to support their responses with information from the presentation, their knowledge of U.S. History and government, and cite a minimum of three scholarly sources.

An audience of community members and students attended the presentation.

“The American Heritage program continues to be an outstanding model of community collaboration,” said Tom Changnon, Stanislaus County Superintendent of Schools. “I believe it is a model in highlighting the importance of the civic mission of public education.”

A group of local educators, editors, community leaders, Superior Court Judges and representatives from the legal community judged the essays.