BIG SKY – The Gallatin Canyon Women’s Club has selected two recipients for its annual scholarship awards. Kayla Schommer and Tucker Shea will receive $2,000 each to apply to their college tuition. Shea will attend Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., while Schommer will continue her education at the University of Montana in Missoula.
Both recipients recently graduated from Lone Peak High School in Big Sky, and both are the first LPHS graduates to
have attended the Big Sky School District since kindergarten.
In their scholarship applications, Shea and Schommer reflected on their education in Big Sky, and how they expect to use it in college.
“I will be both ready and extremely excited about the opportunity that I have to go out into the world and attend college somewhere new,” Shea wrote, “[and] still having Big Sky to come back to.”
In her application, Schommer noted, “This school has given me something that no other school could, a sense of pride and accomplishment. We were truly given the opportunity to help shape our school into what it will be known as in years to come.”
Schommer served on the student council and was elected team captain of the volleyball and basketball teams. She was a photographer for the area’s nonprofit groups, after finishing her internship with Eye in the Sky Photography and summer study at the School of Creative and Performing Arts program in New York City.
Shea also served on the student council, and played varsity basketball and football. He was selected for both Academic All-State and the All-State 6-Man Football Team. He is a Big Brother through Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and was a participant in the Warren Miller Freedom Foundation Young Entrepreneurs Program.
Both students were selected for National Honor Society.
Shea plans to study fiber science and apparel design, while Schommer is interested in elementary education and photography.
The Gallatin Canyon Women’s Club has awarded college scholarships since 1977, with funds coming from GCWC member donations. Scholarship criteria include community and school service.
