See the 3 winners from Estrellita
The 3 winners from Galt High School
Kamille VanWarmerdam,
Kathryn Salfen and
Kayla Holtz proudly show their scholarship
certificates.
The John Moran Community Service Scholarships were awarded at the Galt City
Council meeting of 19 December 2006
Kathryn Safen, 1st place, $1500
Kamille VanWarmerdam, 2nd place,
$1000
Kayla Holtz, 3rd place, $500
The dollar awards do not show the relative merits of these three winners.
More accurately would be; $1001 for first place, $1000 for 2nd and $999 for
third place. These three students are quite different and all three
special young people who will play an important role in our future. We
just hope that we have played a small part in the success that is already
theirs.
Friday's Internet Edition, December 29, 2006.
Three GHS seniors receive John Moran Community Service
Scholarship
 |
| The Galt City Council
Youth Committee honored the first winners of the John Moran Community
Service Scholarship at the last regular meeting of the Galt City Council.
Pictured are youth committee representative Duane Ausherman, recipients
Kathryn Salfen, Kayla Holtz and Kamille VanWarmerdam, and Moran’s widow Deb
Moran. |
By Kymm Griffin
Staff Writer - John
Moran was a great man who had a great heart for community service. His
dedication and many hours are still being honored in the John Moran Community
Service Scholarship awarded at last Tuesday’s council meeting by the Galt City
Council Youth Committee. The committee sought out individuals who, like Moran,
left a mark on Galt and looked beyond themselves to make the community better.
“John loved this town and the people who live here. He had a deep commitment to
family and to the community,” said John’s widow, Deb Moran, at the council
meeting. “He believed in our youth of tomorrow. I believe this is an honorable
memorial of John and of each recipient of this scholarship because they are
being awarded based on service to our community. John thought that community
service was a vital factor for our youth of today.”
This year three seniors from Galt High School received scholarships in
recognition of their community service. The scholarship did not consider grades
or needs of students. Community service and leadership were the only
requirements. The three students selected were Kathryn Salfen, Kamille
VanWarmerdam, and Kayla Holtz.
The scholarship fund began with Councilwoman Barbara Payne dedicating $500 of
her discretionary fund toward the scholarship, but the Galt City Council Youth
Committee and Duane Ausherman thought that more money was needed to help
students with the high cost of college.
“My feeling is that, if the students have given so much to the community, then
we should fund (this scholarship) in the reverse order. I wanted to see
residents in this town fork over $.50, $1 or $5 to fund this,” said Duane
Ausherman, who helped organize many bake sales to raise the funds and will
continue to seek out funding for the scholarship.
Most scholarships are awarded in the spring. This one was purposefully awarded
in the fall so that the recipients could add this award to the applications for
other grants and scholarship in hopes that it would increase their chances of
receiving more award money.
This scholarship was advertised through the Galt High Career Center. Students
had a month to turn in applications to city hall. Career center director
Virginia Menezes takes a personal approach to finding students who qualify for
particular scholarships and notifying them of submission deadlines.
“I will seek out certain students who qualify and let them know about a
scholarship. I’ll let a club or a teacher know if she teaches a class that has
certain students who would qualify,” said Menezes.
Also, many scholarships are posted in the school bulletin that goes out every
morning to students. Menezes recommends students check for scholarship
information in the career center at least once a month and in the spring, when
most scholarships are open, once a week.
Salfen first started doing community service with her family. She helped her
mom, who is the principal at Arcohe Elementary School, move classrooms during
the summer. Often she was able to recruit friends to come along and make the day
more fun. She frequently helps her grandmother, Ida Denier, with events for the
Galt Area Historical Society. She says she likes working with them because they
are always so thankful and “they can be very hilarious.”
“Our family was born and raised here so we are very proud that she is following
the tradition (of community service), and we are all active in the historical
society and happy to be part of this town,” said Lori Salfen, Kathryn’s mother.
Kate, as she likes to be called, also appreciates the support she receives from
her family.
“They support me with anything I do. They let me do things on my own but are
always there for me.”
Some of the events that she has served in are the Old Car Festival, Old Engine
Show, Christmas Open House at the Rae House and the Ice Cream Social.
Salfen has applied to UC Davis, UC Irvine and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She is
planning on pursuing a career in architecture.
VanWarmerdam comes from a family that is very involved in the Herald community.
They help out with Barnyard Olympics and Herald Day. The family farm has helped
instill a strong work ethic, and she has been taught to “be as involved as
possible with the community and to give back.”
“She is very serious about her community and her position at Galt High School as
ASB president. She really wants to make a difference, and that comes through in
everything she does,” said Kamille’s mother, Darla VanWarmerdam.
One of Kamille’s first experiences with community service was a Barnyard
Olympics, helping out at the family booth. She enjoyed helping set up and being
a part of the whole day.
One of her more recent activities included helping out at the Grange Hall for a
holiday dinner put on for the senior citizens.
“I served all the senior citizens, and it was so cool. It was the best feeling
when I was done,” said VanWarmerdam.
As ASB president, Kamille has chosen to promote “respect” throughout the campus.
Currently the leadership class has been working on respect videos that will be
played on the campus TV station, GTV.
She has applied to several colleges in Southern California and is hoping to
attend San Diego State or Long Beach State. Kamille is unsure of a major but
wants to do something that will involve leadership, communications, and possibly
fashion.
Holtz also comes from a local family. She attended River Oaks Elementary and was
the class president in sixth grade. She attributes winning that election to
putting her face in a pie. With a dazzling smile and an outgoing personality,
she makes community service part of treating others the way she would want to be
treated. Her dreams include one day playing Belle at Disneyland.
When asked about her parents’ influence, Kayla replied, “No matter what, I can
always go to them. My parents have backed me up 100 percent in everything I do.”
Community service comes naturally for Holtz, who says, “I love to help people. I
think it’s kind of a contagious thing.”
Her heart to help people has led to mission trips to Mexico with Horizon
Community Church. She has participated in five trips into Mexico to help hand
out food, build houses, and teach Vacation Bible School. For Kayla, it’s all
about her family and her church.
Her first love is drama. She has been in numerous plays at Galt High School.
During her junior year, she was a Galt Warrior cheerleader. While confessing
that she was not the most coordinated cheerleader, she proudly smiles, declaring
that she did win Miss Congeniality.
“I couldn’t ask for a better daughter. She’s just so outgoing,” said Tami Holtz.
Holtz hopes to attend Point Loma Nazarene University next fall, where she hopes
to study abroad and possibly study communications.
All three recipients will be acknowledged again at the end of the school year
during a celebration of scholarship winners.
To make a donation for the John Moran Community Service Scholarship, go to
http://ilovegalt.org.
Donate with Paypal, simple, safe and easy
The John Moran Scholarship is sponsored by the Galt City Council Youth
Committee. It is awarded to the graduating student from a Galt High School who
exemplifies the volunteering spirit shown by John Moran. An important factor is
leadership shown in community improvement. This scholarship is for a minimum of
$500 and probably more. The goal is $1500. If no qualified candidate is
identified, no scholarship will be awarded.
1. Applicant must be a graduating senior at a Galt High School.
2. Complete the scholarship form available from the career office, or
online.
3. Submit a list of public service work with documentation. Documentation
could be copies of newspaper articles, photos, Internet websites, or other. This
should include Clubs, Teams, or other activities. Include contact information.
Information on your application will be verified. Falsification of information
on the application will cause disqualification.
4. List awards and honors in school and from community groups.
5. Include a list and total of your community service hours.
6. Must be submitted by paper to the city clerk’s office at City Hall by
November 30th, 2006.
7. Semi-finalists may be called in for an oral interview.
8. The award winner will be announced within 60 days.
9. The application will become the property of the scholarship committee.
For questions, email to scholarship @ ilovegalt.org Remove
the spaces on each side of the @.
The 2005 scholarship winner
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