CFVI Awards $140,000 In Academic Scholarships And Grants To​ ​VI Students​ ​And Teachers

ST. THOMAS — Sponsored by First Bank VI, the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands (CFVI) hosted its annual awards reception on July 21st, 2016, to honor its donors, volunteers, and scholarship and grant recipients. The event was held at the Prior-Jollek Courtyard at the Antilles School.

According to a release CFVI issued Wednesday, this year the Foundation awarded a total of $100,000 in academic scholarships to 58 students. Undergraduate and graduate students will have the opportunity to attend schools such as the University of the Virgin Islands, American University and University of South Florida.

CFVI scholarships range from $500-$4,000. Scholarships such as the Isaac & Rebecca Paiewonsky Scholarship and the Milan & Aliki Glumidge Memorial Scholars Award will provide funding for students for up to four consecutive years.

“In addition to the preservation of our precious natural resources, the greatest gift we can offer to our youth is the ability to access and pursue their higher education. No more noble pursuit is there than ensuring that when one generation passes the torch to another that its light will be sustained for future generations to come,” said Marie ThomasGriffith, the Foundation’s Scholarship Committee Chair. CFVI also awarded $40,000 in grants to 43 individuals.

Students throughout the territory were able to attend college preparatory programs, dance, music and marine-related camps this summer thanks to CFVI’s generous donors, according to the release.

At the reception, the winners of the 2016 Laws of Life Essay contest were presented with monetary prizes. The Laws of Life Essay contest is an initiative of the John Templeton Foundation and was first introduced to the Virgin Islands in 2001 by the Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation. Laws of Life is a character education program to motivate students to think and write about their personal values. Students of the territory’s four public high schools are invited to participate. Essays are then reviewed by a panel of anonymous judges. Prizes were awarded based on the quality of the individual essays.

Students who were honored this year wrote essays which contained powerful themes including self-acceptance, forgiveness, learning from one’s mistakes, and treating others with respect. To date, the Gruber Foundation has invested approximately $450,000 in grants to provide student and teacher prizes and recognition, according to the release.

Applications for CFVI grants and scholarships were managed at cfvi.fluidreview.com. For more information about our offerings, visit our website at www.cfvi.net.

CFVI has awarded scholarships to Virgin Islands students since 1996. The Foundation is looking to get in touch with as many of CFVI past scholarship recipients as possible and asks that “Scholarship Alumni” contact the Foundation at 774-6031 or visit our website at www.cfvi.net to fill out the scholarship recipient questionnaire. Submit your questionnaire to [email protected].

Find list of all recipients and their awards below: