Community News – Feb. 17

Scholarship offered for Justice Studies
The National Center for Juvenile Justice invites 11th- and 12th-grade students to apply for the newly launched Maurice B. Cohill, Jr., Young Investigator Award, a college scholarship opportunity for high school juniors and seniors interested in law and justice issues affecting juveniles.
NCJJ is a national source for juvenile justice applied research, statistics, and legal analysis. This new national-level award is named after NCJJ’s founder, the Honorable Maurice B. Cohill, Jr., federal judge in the Western District of Pennsylvania, and will recognize the next generation of young crime and justice researchers from across the United States. 
See www.ncjj.org and click on the “Cohill” logo.

EcoLogical Team makes another big splash

In a year of high public profiles for their work in reducing waste, Homer EcoLogical team won their biggest accolade yet with the 2009 Spirit of Youth Award recognizing them for outstanding service to their community.
“Ecological” comprises five Homer teens — Adi Davis, Sydney Paulino, Taylor Ellison, Hannah Baird and Katherine Dolma — who want to reduce landfill trash. They have already helped to eliminate the use of styrofoam trays at their school, as well as adding a recycling program. They encouraged the City of Homer to add tin recycling at the local landfill, and hosted a fashion show that featured all-recycled clothing.
The group will be recognized at the annual Spirit of Youth Awards Banquet in Anchorage on March 20. With the recognition came a $250 award the team wants to apply toward a project at their school that will make a lasting contribution to renewable resource use. Currently, they are studying alternative energy options such as water wheels, small wind or solar power systems.
“We want to leave a legacy at our school (Homer Middle School), and think the use of a renewable resource will do that,” said Adi Davis.
In early February, the team made presentations at the Alaska Forum for the Environment, giving talks on how they devised the ecological ideas put to work in Homer.
“The idea was to show what youth across Alaska are doing,” said Katherine Dolma, parent and group advisor. “We were invited to talk about what we are doing and how we put together the fashion show.”
The girls generally wear their recycled clothing — including a dress made of People Magazines.
“People stop us on the street and ask if they can take our picture,” Dolma said.
In addition to the forum, the girls spoke with five different sets of West Homer Elementary students this month, discussing how they are never too young to set goals and actions in place to “reduce, reuse and recycle.”
And while all these different activities can get a bit overwhelming at times, the girls are apparently just taking it all in stride.
“This feels normal to us,” Davis explained “We’ve grown up in Homer, and with the idea of taking action. I think it’s worth it.”

Bornheimer makes Dean’s List
Rachel Bornheimer of Homer was named to the Pacific University Dean’s List for the fall of 2009. The College of Arts and Sciences’ Dean’s List is comprised of students who’s grade point average is 3.7 or above. Rache is one of only 219 students to achieve this level at the university this semester. Pacific University Oregon is located in Forest Grove.

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Posted by Newsroom on Feb 17th, 2010 and filed under More News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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