SECAUCUS – Hackensack Riverkeeper is now accepting applications for the 2015 Ron Vellekamp Environmental Scholarship.
Now in its fifteenth year, the program was created in memory of the late science teacher and founding Riverkeeper trustee in order to support college-bound high school seniors who excel academically and who maintain a strong commitment to environmental protection.
Teachers and guidance counselors are invited to submit applications on behalf of deserving students. Each school may nominate one senior. A panel of Hackensack Riverkeeper trustees and staffers led by Captain Bill Sheehan and Program Director Hugh Carola will review each application. The panel will consider the applicant’s academic achievements, environmental extra-curricular activities, and future plans.
The $1,000 scholarship is unrestricted.
All applicants must live within the 210-square mile Hackensack River Watershed and/or attend a high school located within that region. Seniors at sixty-six high schools in Bergen, Hudson, and Rockland Counties are eligible to apply.
Full scholarship application criteria are available online at www.hackensackriverkeeper.org or by calling (201) 968-0808. A list of watershed municipalities is available on the links page of the website.
All applications must be postmarked no later than Earth Day, Apr. 22. The winner will be chosen and announced by June 1.